A Virginia man has been arrested for allegedly causing a high-speed crash that killed an Upstate New York woman.
William F. McAllister III, 38, of Ringgold, Va., was charged Tuesday with criminally negligent homicide, a felony, according to New York State Police. He surrendered himself to NYS Police in Latham, where he was arrested and processed.
McAllister is accused of driving at more than 130 miles per hour (mph) on Nov. 1, 2025, on the New York State Thruway, causing a three-car collision. The crash occurred around 4:44 p.m. on I-87 northbound near Exit 23 in the town of Bethlehem.
Troopers said a 2011 Chevrolet sedan driven by McAllister was speeding in the left lane when the car attempted to move into the right lane, sideswiping a 2009 Ram pickup truck. McAllister’s vehicle then veered back into the left lane, where it rear-ended a 2025 Chevrolet sedan, which then struck the guardrail.
The driver of the 2025 Chevy was pronounced dead at the scene. She was later identified as Claudia Hargis-Grover, 63, of Glens Falls, N,Y.
A passenger in Hargis-Grover’s vehicle was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries. The driver and a passenger in the Ram pickup truck were also transported to a hospital in Albany.
Police said at the time that McAllister, whose vehicle came to a stop on the right shoulder of the highway, showed no signs of impairment when given a field sobriety test. A preliminary breath test was negative for the presence of alcohol.
McAllister was initially charged with multiple vehicle and traffic law violations before Tuesday’s arrest for criminally negligent homicide.
He was arraigned at the Bethlehem Town Court, where he was released under the supervision of the Albany County Probation Department.
Bethlehem is located just outside of Albany, more than 500 miles north of Ringgold, Virginia.