The driver responsible for a deadly U-Haul crash into the Erie Canal following a high-speed chase in September 2025 was sentenced on Wednesday.
Ryan Armstrong, 43, will serve between four and eight years in prison. He pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter earlier this year in Orleans County Court.
Officials say Reginald L. Russell, 56, was riding with Armstrong in a U-Haul truck loaded with items stolen from a Brockport Walgreens last September.
Armstrong then led Monroe County sheriff’s deputies on a chase into Orleans County after allegedly refusing to pull over when authorities tried to stop them.
Police say the men eventually drove onto the Erie Canal path in the town of Murray and then circled a farm field before getting back on the canal path and intentionally driving the truck into the canal.
Russell’s body was eventually recovered after deputies say he attempted to swim to shore, but struggled and went under the water.