WALKER VALLEY – The accident was back on November 28, a cruel twist of fate that saw a car driven by 18 year old Alycia Geiss spin out of control on Route 52 and hit a tree sideways. The main impact was on the rear side door of the car. Neither the driver nor a 16-year-old passenger in the front seat was injured — the airbags didn't even deploy. But in the back seat, Tasia Quackenbush, 16, a junior at Pine Bush High School, was seriously injured. She was taken to Ellenville Regional Hospital and then flown to Westchester Medical Center, where she died.

That set off a two-and-a-half month long investigation of the events surrounding the crash by the Ulster Country Sheriff's Office, the Town of Shawangunk Police Department, and the Ulster County District Attorney's Office. A grand jury was convened on February 17 and on February 26, Alycia Geiss was arrested and charged with vehicular manslaughter in the second degree, a class D felony.

Also charged were Anthony V. Ozga Sr, 46, and Stephanie Conservo, 44, both of 33 Sinsabaugh Road, Apartment 1. They were charged with Endangering the Welfare of a Child, a misdemeanor, as well as contravening Ulster Country Local Law #2 of 2008, which provides that no person having control of any premises shall allow an open house party to take place if such person knows that alcoholic beverages or drugs are being unlawfully possessed and consumed by a minor. Ozga and Conservo are to reappear at Town of Shawangunk Court at a later date.

The investigation determined that the teenagers had been at a party at 33 Sinsabaugh Road, about half a mile from the accident site. Alcohol was available at the party and either Ozga and Conservo were careless about keeping it out of the hands of teenagers, or they allowed Geiss to drink. When Geiss left the party in the wee hours of the morning, she headed back towards Pine Bush on the eastbound lane of Route 52 and very shortly thereafter lost control of her car with fatal consequences for Tasia Quackenbush. Now Geiss faces the legal consequences of those mistakes.

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