Car slams into apartment, kills sleeping woman
May 21—NIAGARA FALLS — A city man faces manslaughter and other charges after a crash late Thursday night that took the life of a woman, asleep in her apartment.
Leander J. Patterson, 41, of St. Johns Parkway, was charged with second-degree vehicular manslaughter, driving while intoxicated, reckless driving and unsafe backing after slamming his car into the wall of an apartment building. He was scheduled to be arraigned in Falls City Court on Friday afternoon, but the results of that proceeding were not immediately available.
First responders were called to an apartment building parking lot at 9103 St. Johns Parkway around 11:30 p.m., for a report of a vehicle striking a building and "a person trapped under the car."
Responding Falls Police patrol officers were told that the driver of 2015 Cadillac backed up into several parked vehicles and then continued in reverse, slamming into the wall of an apartment building. The force of the crash propelled the Cadillac through the wall and the vehicle came to rest on top of a woman, sleeping in her bed in an apartment.
Falls Police Traffic Division Crash Management Unit investigators identified the driver as Patterson.
The woman, identified Friday night as Levron Gray, 64, of St. John's Parkway, was pinned under Patterson's vehicle. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Patterson reportedly failed field sobriety tests. Investigators obtained a court-ordered blood test for Patterson.
Crash Management Unit are continuing their probe of the crash.
