A Monroe County Deputy has been cleared of any involvement in the death of a 17-year-old Aquinas Institute student. Clark Palen of Honeoye Falls was killed in a crash on Bluff Drive in East Rochester early on November 5.
A member of the public later called Sheriff Todd Baxter’s office and reported seeing a deputy driving away from the area of the crash.
The sheriff’s office says both it and the New York Attorney General’s Office investigated. They found the deputy observed and tried to follow a speeding car with no headlights on. It was determined that the car left the road due to high speed and hit a tree, which then fell over on top of the unlit car. The deputy was around a curve and unable to see the crash, and he did not see the wrecked car under the fallen tree as he passed by. The deputy continued looking for the speeding car until eventually giving up.
Both investigations concluded the deputy did not contribute to or cause the crash.