A 68-year-old Churchville man has pleaded guilty to vehicular manslaughter in connection with an April crash on I-90 that killed a Syracuse driver who was ejected from his overturned pickup truck. Patrick J. Hastings entered his plea in Genesee County Court, admitting to second-degree vehicular manslaughter, a Class D felony, along with a misdemeanor DWI/common law charge. He now faces up to 2 1/3 to 7 years in state prison when he is sentenced in January.
According to videonewsservice.net, the crash happened on April 10, 2026, at 8:53 p.m., when New York State Police troopers from SP Buffalo responded to a collision on I-90 in the town of Stafford at milepost 384. A 2017 GMC pickup and a 2024 BMW X6 were both traveling eastbound when the BMW struck the GMC from behind, causing the pickup to overturn.
The GMC's operator, Scott K. Berberian, 56, of Syracuse, was ejected from the vehicle and was pronounced deceased at the scene, per the same account. Hastings, who was driving the BMW, was uninjured in the crash but showed signs of impairment at the scene. He failed standardized field sobriety tests and was arrested, the report states.
Breath Test and Arrest
Breath Test and Arrest Troopers said Hastings was transported to SP Batavia before providing a breath sample measuring 0.08% BAC. He was later processed at the Genesee County Jail for centralized arraignment. He was subsequently released on his own recognizance and remains free under that status, according to the outlet's reporting.
A separate report published the day after the crash identified Hastings as 67 years old at the time of his arrest, while the more recent coverage of his guilty plea lists him as 68. Both ages come from videonewsservice.net's own reporting on the case.
Guilty Plea and Looming Sentencing
Hastings appeared in Genesee County Court with his attorney, Stephen Sercu, where Judge Melissa Lightcap Cianfrini presided over the plea. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 27, 2027, at 1:30 p.m., when he could face a prison term of 2 1/3 to 7 years.
In Saratoga County, Morgan Lange pleaded guilty on July 27, 2026, to the same Class D felony along with a charge of tampering with physical evidence, according to the Saratoga County District Attorney. That case remains distinct from the Genesee County matter and involves the same charge.
For now, the Churchville case stands as another instance in Genesee County of a fatal highway crash resulting in a vehicular manslaughter conviction, with the community awaiting the outcome when Hastings returns to court in January.
