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MASSENA, N.Y. (AP) — A U.S. Border Patrol agent assaulted two people who stopped to help his wife after she was fatally struck by a vehicle while lying in a northern New York road, state police said Tuesday.
State police Capt. Robert LaFountain said Bryan McDonald, 34, of Lyon Mountain, was charged Monday with assault for hitting a 66-year-old man and his 65-year-old wife in the face the night of Dec. 4. Troopers said the two had stopped to offer assistance after Ashley McDonald, 33, was hit by a vehicle in Massena, on the Canadian border, 165 miles northwest of Albany.
LaFountain said Ashley McDonald had been riding in a car with her husband before she was struck. He declined to provide other details, including how she ended up lying on the road where she was hit, saying the circumstances leading up to her death remain under investigation.
"Until we have completed the investigation, we will release no information on specifics," he said.
LaFountain wouldn't comment on whether police believe foul play or alcohol was involved.
The 32-year-old woman who was driving the vehicle that hit Ashley McDonald hasn't been charged, LaFountain said.
St. Lawrence County prosecutors did not have information on McDonald's lawyer.
The McDonalds were visiting relatives in the area when the accident occurred.
Ashley McDonald's obituary says she was the mother of two children and worked as a reading aide at a school near the family's home in Lyon Mountain, 50 miles east of Massena.
The Border Patrol said Bryan McDonald has been put on leave as an agent assigned to Malone pending the outcome of the investigation. The agency said it is cooperating with the state police and referred all questions to New York authorities.
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