Dramatic video shows Tonawanda street sweeper crash on I

Jun 09, 2023

This screenshot from a Town of Tonawanda police officer's body camera video shows a rollover accident from Friday morning involving a town street sweeper. The operator was charged with DWI and later fired from his job.

The operator of the Town of Tonawanda street sweeper that flipped on its side on the I-290 expressway earlier this month initially claimed he lost control of the truck after another vehicle cut him off, according to a police report.

But a dramatic video of the incident – recorded by a trailing motorist, obtained by The Buffalo News and authenticated by town police – shows the middle lane clear in front of the sweeper as it swerves for about six seconds before it abruptly tips over, crashes onto its driver's side, spins 360 degrees and comes to a rest.

This video shows a Town of Tonawanda street sweeper swerving on the I-290 expressway before flipping on its side and spinning. The Buffalo News muted the audio because of the extensive profanity in the videographer's play-by-play of the incident.

The operator, Roger D. Murphy, was charged with driving while intoxicated and, later, was fired by the town following the incident. Town officials are waiting to see whether the three-year-old truck, which cost more than $300,000 and is the newest sweeper in Tonawanda's fleet, can be repaired or must be replaced.

The crash happened about 10:30 a.m. April 7 on the westbound 290, near the Colvin Boulevard exit.

Highway Department employees operating street sweepers don't clean the 290 itself, but often take the expressway as the fastest way to get across town, typically to take a sweeper back to the highway barn to drop off collected debris and to refill the water tank, Highway Superintendent Ted D. Rymarczyk said.

This video, from a Town of Tonawanda police officer's body camera, shows a street sweeper that tipped over on its side in a crash Friday morning on the I-290. The operator was charged with DWI and fired from his job with the town Highway Department, officials said.

Police body camera footage provided last week in response to a Freedom of Information Law request shows the street sweeper tipped over on the driver's side, with a fire engine and a contractor's truck parked behind it, in the left lane of the highway. Liquid, later determined to be water, had spilled out of the truck across the roadway.

That footage showed the aftermath of the crash.

A police report stated a witness had recorded the incident itself and shared this video with a town police detective. The report blacked out the witness' name.

This video, obtained independently by The News, is 18 seconds long and begins with the sweeper traveling in the middle lane of the 290. The truck pitched slightly left to right until, as the camera zoomed in, it started swerving wildly from one side of the lane to the other.

At the 8-second mark, the truck crossed into the left lane before tipping over onto its side and spinning all the way around.

Remarkably, no one was injured in the crash.

The audio on the recording featured a man swearing in disbelief at what he saw happening in front of him, before he concluded with, "Oh my God, call 911 right now," as the sweeper came to a rest.

The video shows only the 10 or so seconds leading up to the crash and the accident itself. It is not clear for how long the truck had been swerving on the highway.

The westbound 290 was closed while the crash was investigated and the sweeper was removed from the scene.

Body camera footage provided Wednesday in response to a Freedom of Information Law request shows the street sweeper tipped over on the driver's side, with a fire engine and a contractor's truck parked behind it.

In addition to DWI, Murphy, 53, is charged with unsafe passing, a traffic violation, along with criminal possession of a controlled substance and having a controlled substance outside its original container. Police say a search of the truck's cab found a pill that was determined to be morphine sulfate, a painkiller and Schedule II controlled substance.

Murphy, a motor equipment operator, was placed on paid leave immediately following the crash and was fired Tuesday.

The Hourly Employees Association, which represents town Highway Department workers, has filed a grievance objecting to Murphy's termination. Union President Jason Adams did not respond to a message seeking comment last week.

"It's certainly their right to do that," Tonawanda Supervisor Joseph Emminger said Monday. "We feel the town took the appropriate action."

The town was waiting to have the sweeper hauled to a warehouse, where two of the companies that manufactured the vehicle could examine it and assess whether it makes more financial sense to repair or replace it, Rymarczyk said.

The 2020 Freightliner model was purchased new by the town for at least $300,000, he said, and the four other sweepers in the town fleet are between 18 and 25 years old.

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A 22-year-old man is accused of swiping a street sweeper and taking it for a 5-mile joyride from Amherst to Buffalo.