The New York State Police have charged a Little Falls man following an investigation into a tractor trailer that struck a patrol vehicle on the New York State Thruway in Madison County.
At approximately 1:00 p.m. on March 25, 2026, a trooper assigned to SP Syracuse stopped his vehicle near mile marker 273 in the town of Sullivan to remove an obstruction in the roadway. The patrol vehicle was in the right lane with emergency lights activated in order to safely remove the debris.
Investigation revealed that a 2022 Peterbilt truck with a dump trailer, operated by Seth J. Horender, 55, of Little Falls, approached the scene and attempted to go around the patrol vehicle by illegally passing onto the right shoulder. The truck struck the patrol vehicle but continued traveling eastbound on the Thruway until it was eventually located and stopped by troopers approximately 20 miles away.
The trooper saw the approaching truck and moved to the median to avoid injury.
The tractor trailer, registered to Longhorn Trucking Company of Fort Plain, N.Y., was moved to the Thruway Verona tandem lot for inspection by the Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Unit, where damage to the left trailer wheels and rims was identified. The patrol vehicle was towed off scene.
Troopers conducted field sobriety tests on Horender, which returned no indicators of impairment. He was charged with multiple vehicle and traffic law violations, including failure to avoid colliding with an emergency vehicle (Move Over Law). He was also cited for having an overweight vehicle.
Horender is due in Sullivan Town Court on April 21, 2026.
This is the second incident of a trooper being struck on the Thruway in less than two weeks. The New York State Police reminds drivers that New York’s Move Over Law requires motorists to slow down, be alert, and move over when safely possible for all vehicles stopped along the road. In 2025, more than 2,500 tickets were issued for Move Over Law violations along the NYS Thruway.
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