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The family of a Jamestown man killed in a wrong-way crash in 2023 on Interstate 86 is refiling its case in state Supreme Court after the original 2025 filing was dismissed due to a procedural error.
Sandra Town, Joseph Town and the estate of Todd A. Town refiled their suit in state Supreme Court earlier this week after the 2025 case was dismissed because of an issue with the way the lawsuit was served upon Werner Enterprises Inc. and Brandon D. Cox. The lawsuit seeks compensatory damages for the wrongful death of Todd A. Town, compensatory damages for injuries and losses sustained by Sandra Town and Todd Town before he died, funeral expenses, damages arising from pre-impact physical pain and suffering, mental terror and mental anguish of the Towns.
A lawsuit filed in 2025 was dismissed on May 6 by state Supreme Court Justice Grace Hanlon, who granted a motion to dismiss because the lawsuit had not been properly filed upon Werner and Cox.
State law allows plaintiffs to file a new action in certain circumstances within six months of a similar filing being dismissed. That time period ends on Nov. 5, 2026, attorney Andrew Debbins wrote in his affirmation in support of an Order to Show Cause filed this week in state Supreme Court in Mayville. Debbins is asking the court to allow the filing to be served upon Joel B. Schechter, a Buffalo attorney who represented Werner Enterprises in the original lawsuit. Personally serving Cox would be difficult in nine days since the truck driver is often
"The plaintiffs respectfully ask that this court order that service upon Mr. Schechter, including by email, be deemed good and sufficient service upon the defendants," Debbins wrote. "Service by other means within the required timeframe is impracticable."
The accident happened Jan. 28, 2023, when two people, one of whom was driving the wrong way in the westbound lane of Interstate 86 between the Strunk Road and North Main Street Extension exits.
According to the New York State Police, the agency handling the investigation, a driver in a 2009 Toyota Camry traveling east struck a westbound 2019 Ram 1500. The Ram was then hit from behind by a 2020 Freightliner.
The operator of the vehicle traveling in the wrong direction, later identified as Mathew A. Berry of Randolph, was pronounced dead at the scene. Police said Berry had been reported missing earlier in the day. There were two occupants in the Ram that was traveling west; one of the occupants, identified as Jamestown resident Todd A. Town, 57, was later pronounced dead while the other, Sandra L. Town, 54, suffered serious injuries and was transported by helicopter to UPMC Hamot in Erie, Pa.
A witness to the accident told The Post-Journal after the accident that he tried to warn other drivers of the vehicle traveling the wrong way on I-86, flashing his vehicle’s lights and blowing the horn.
The lawsuit seeks compensatory damages for the wrongful death of Todd A. Town, compensatory damages for injuries and losses sustained by Sandra Town and Todd Town before he died, funeral expenses, damages arising from pre-impact physical pain and suffering, mental terror and mental anguish of the Towns.
“As a result of the defendants’ negligence herein the plaintiff, Sandra Town was deprived of the services and consortium of her husband, the decedent Todd A. Town,” the lawsuit states. “That as a result of the above, the plaintiff, Sandra Town, has been damaged in a sum which exceeds the jurisdiction of all lower courts which would otherwise have jurisdiction in this action.”