WALDEN – Two drivers were killed when their vehicles crashed head-on around 10:30 Friday night, State Police said Monday.
Town of Montgomery Police and Walden Village Police responded to a report of an erratic driver traveling north on Route 52 in the Town of Newburgh.
The vehicle, a 2018 Jeep Wrangler, was observed on Main Street by Walden Police and was stopped. Montgomery Town Police stopped to assist at the scene.
As officers approached the vehicle, the driver, later identified as Joann Schields, 52, of Pine Bush, fled the scene driving west on Route 52 and a short time later, struck an eastbound 2013 Toyota Rav-4 head-on.
Both Shields and the driver of the other vehicle, Elizabeth Bello, 35, of Wallkill, were killed in the crash.
Two passengers in Bello’s car, ages 16 and six, were transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
The Town of Montgomery, New Windsor and Newburgh ambulance corps, Mobile Life Support Services and the Walden Fire Department all assisted at the scene.
State Police are assisting the State Attorney General’s Office with the investigation.