Two teenagers die in Pine Plains car crash

PINE PLAINS — A one-car automobile accident took the lives of two high school students and injured two others on Thursday, Aug. 29. All four of the boys involved were students at Stissing Mountain High School.Zachary Pruner, 16, of Stanfordville, and Gian Paolo Stagnaro, 17, of Pine Plains, died as a result of injuries sustained in the accident (see obituaries, Page A11). Dustin Hale, 16, of Pine Plains suffered life-threatening injuries and was air-lifted to Albany Medical Center, where he remained in critical condition as of Tuesday, Sept. 3.Niall Johnson, 16, also of Pine Plains, suffered non-life-threatening injuries and was taken to Saint Francis Hospital in Poughkeepsie; he was released on Friday, Aug. 30. “It’s been a difficult day,” said Pine Plains Central School District Superintendent of Schools Martin Handler on Friday, Aug. 30. “When you have a small school like we do, a loss like this is pretty devastating,” he sad. “To lose two young people and have two others injured … I feel for the families of these children and for their friends.”Grief counselors were at the high school Friday and on Tuesday, Sept. 3, even though school had not officially opened. They were also available on Wednesday, Sept. 4, the first day of school, to help students cope with the news.According to the Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office, the accident occurred on Schultz Hill Road, roughly a mile south of State Route 199 in the town of Pine Plains, at approximately 3:45 p.m. Hale was reportedly driving a 2000 Subaru Impreza northbound on Schultz Hill Road when he lost control of the vehicle. According to a press release from the sheriff’s office, “The vehicle then left the roadway, struck multiple trees and rolled over. [Pruner] was ejected and all other occupants stayed in the vehicle.”Pruner was known as a hero in the community because of his bravery during a hostage situation at Stissing Mountain Middle School in 2009, when parent Christopher Craft held then-Principal Robert Hess hostage in his office. Pruner was a 12-year-old middle school student at the time. He was in the guidance counselor’s office, next door to the principal’s office, making a phone call when Craft entered the administration offices, looking for Hess. Pruner hid in the room for two hours before signaling to SWAT police officers with his hands and a handwritten sign saying that there was a man with a gun in the neighboring office. The SWAT team then gave written instructions for Pruner to climb out of the window to safety; he was heralded as a hero for helping police to assess the situation.When asked at the time where he found the courage to act, Pruner said, “Most of that stuff comes from my dad and from Boy Scouts.”On Aug. 29, the four friends were reportedly headed to football practice at the high school at the time of the accident. “With students, it’s the suddenness of losing a classmate,” Handler said. “And these students are young enough that they might not have experienced the death of a close family member, so it’s a different circumstance for them.”The cause of the accident is still under investigation by members of the Sheriff’s Office Crash Investigation Unit, but initial findings from the sheriff’s office stated that “unsafe speed and reckless driving appear to be contributing factors.”Autopsies were set to take place at the Dutchess County Medical Examiner’s Office on Saturday, Aug. 31.In the meantime the town supervisor said the most the community can do is show its support and send its condolences.“We are all in pain and pray for the recovery of the two boys currently hospitalized,” Pine Plains Town Supervisor Brian Coons said. “Growing up in a small rural community we have all shared these experiences and we pray that from this tragedy we are reminded how precious and fragile life is.”