Survivors of deadly auto accident sue driver

Nov. 29--HALFMOON -- Two teenage survivors of a Northway crash last year that killed two of their friends are suing the other driver, Dennis Drue, who is expected to be sent to state prison when sentenced next week.

Matthew Hardy and Bailey Wind are each suing Drue for $1 million in compensatory damages and an unspecified amount in punitive damages, said their Troy attorney, E. Stewart Jones, on Thursday. A summons to launch the lawsuit was served last week on Drue at his home in Halfmoon, Jones said.

Hardy and Wind suffered serious injuries in the Dec. 1, 2012, crash about a mile north of the Twin Bridges, when Drue -- intoxicated, speeding and text-messaging -- slammed his sedan into the back of a Ford Explorer carrying four Shenendehowa High School students, killing seniors Christopher Stewart and Deanna Rivers, both 17, and injuring Wind and Hardy.

Drue, 23, remains free, but is expected to be sentenced to a prison term of between five and 15 years Thursday when he appears before Saratoga County Judge Jerry Scarano. Friends and families of the victims have called that sentence inadequate, and an online petition asking Scarano to impose the maximum penalty has attracted more than 2,100 signatures from Clifton Park to Florida to Texas.

In September, Drue pleaded guilty to a 58-count indictment, which included charges of manslaughter, vehicular manslaughter, assault, vehicular assault and driving while intoxicated. Drue had high traces of marijuana in his blood and was seen drinking shots of alcohol earlier in the night at a Japanese restaurant.

"Just because Mr. Drue is going to prison, there are still other consequences associated with his conduct," said Jones. "He inflicted lifelong harm on two individuals, who will never be free of it, emotionally or physically."

Jones said the summons will likely be turned over to the insurance company that covered the Volvo sedan that Drue was driving. Also named in the summons was his mother, Gail Pendergast, who held an ownership interest in the vehicle, said Jones. He said the insurance company will likely retain a lawyer to defend against the lawsuit.

"It is unlikely that there is sufficient insurance to replace these losses. These are lifelong harms, lifelong injuries," said Jones. Drue could be liable for whatever financial damages are obtained by the lawsuit that exceed the insurance.

Now a freshman at the University of Tennessee, Wind was trapped in the crushed vehicle after the crash. She suffered five broken vertebrae, and lost five teeth. She had since undergone several dental surgeries.

Now a senior at Shenendehowa, Hardy suffered a broken pelvis, a broken arm and a broken leg. He recovered to play on the school's varsity football team this fall.

bnearing@timesunion.com, 518-454-5094, @Bnearing10

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