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Limousine owner's son charged with negligent homicide in connection with upstate crash that killed 20 people

By Esha Ray  and Leonard Greene

Oct 10, 2018 | 12:45 PM

Nauman Hussain, the son of the owner of the stretch limousine that crashed upstate killing 20 people, walks out of court after he was arrested Wednesday.

A transportation company operator whose broken-down stretch limo was involved in the horrific weekend crash upstate that killed 20 people was arrested Wednesday and charged with criminally negligent homicide.

Nauman Hussain, 28, was pulled over during a morning traffic stop and arrested in connection with the Saturday accident by state police who said he was directly responsible for the tragedy. He was a passenger in a car driven by his older brother Shahyer. Prosecutors said there were several bags in the vehicle packed with his belongings.

Officials said the cause of the crash that killed the driver, 17 passengers and two people in a packed Schoharie parking lot Saturday is still under investigation. But they said this much is clear: Hussain put a driver without the proper paperwork behind the wheel of a shoddy SUV that had no business being on the road.

“The driver he hired should not have been operating the type of vehicle involved in Saturday's crash," said State Police Superintendent George Beach. “He was cited with the violations. He knew this. The sole responsibility for that motor vehicle being on the road on Saturday rests with Nauman Hussain. That vehicle was placed out of service by the Department of Transportation in September of this year and should not have been on the road."

Sources said the vehicle was affixed with a large sticker after the failed inspection deeming it out of service. “This vehicle is NOT to be operated until repaired,” the sticker read.

Hussain, 28, whose father owns the Wilton, N.Y.-based Prestige Limousine company, was pulled over along Interstate 787 in Watervliet as he was riding with his brother. It was not the first time the siblings were in a car together during a traffic stop.

About four years ago, the brothers, who look alike, pretended to be each other when they were pulled over without identification with Shahyer behind the wheel, officials said.

The two were arrested after an investigation revealed that Shahyer’s license was revoked and had 28 suspensions, he’d used his brother’s identity before and that combined, the duo had been ticketed more than 70 times.

Hussain’s father, Shahed Hussain, is currently out of the country. His company owned the 2001 Ford Excursion that blew a stop sign, cut through the parking lot of the Apple Barrel Country Store and slammed into an embankment, killing all aboard and two pedestrians in the lot.

Nauman Hussain, the son of the owner of the out-of-control stretch limousine that crashed in an upstate accident that killed 20 was arrested Wednesday and is expected to be charged with criminally negligent homicide, his lawyer said. (Handout)

The company’s safety record and the vehicle’s history report have come under intense scrutiny since the crash. The limo failed two inspections this year, including one in March that revealed the hydraulic brakes were not working properly, officials said.

Hussain’s lawyer, Lee Kindlon, told the Daily News the arrest had “jumped the gun.” He said the road was more of a factor in the crash.

“It was a known problem to the state of New York,” Kindlon said. ”Frankly, the Department of Transportation and the state of New York are doing a great job of saying, ‘Look over there, it’s not our fault!’ Is this day a distracter for what the state of New York knew and when they knew it? That’s always going to be up for answers.”

A state Transportation Department official pushed back against the claim that the intersection sparked the crash.

“This location was fully reconstructed about a decade ago and there have been only four reported accidents since reconstruction,” DOT spokesman Joe Morrissey said. “In addition, we have imposed restrictions on trucks since 2013 and fully prohibited trucks in 2015.”

The driver’s wife, Kim Lisinicchia, told CBS that she overheard her husband, Scott, complain several times about the vehicle’s safety. "I'm not going to drive this, like this,” she said, quoting her husband. “You need to get me another car."

Hussain pleaded not guilty at his arraignment Wednesday night in Cobleskill Town Court and was released on $150,000 bail. Schoharie DA Susan Mallery had asked for $50,000 cash or $150,000 bond, a “higher bail and bond than usual,” because “he may have dual citizenship in Pakistan and the United States,” she said.

“We ask that he surrender his United States passport and Pakistani passport to the DA,” Mallery added. “Our concern is that he was leaving the jurisdiction today with packed belongings.”

His lawyer Kindlon said that despite numerous death threats in the past few days, Hussain was a U.S. citizen, doesn’t have a Pakistani passport and “wasn’t going anywhere.”

An email Kindlon received before Nauman Hussain’s arraignment threatening him and his client. (Lee Kindlon)

Hussain, who wore a black t-shirt, gray basketball shorts and a Yankees hat at his arraignment, looked nervous and kept looking back at his brother Shahyer, a girlfriend and a friend who were sitting in the audience.

He’s due back in court on Oct 23.