Limousine owner’s son taken into custody in connection with crash that killed 20 people

NEW YORK — The son of the owner of the out-of-control stretch limousine that crashed in an upstate New York accident, killing 20, was arrested Wednesday and is expected to be charged with criminally negligent homicide, his lawyer said.

Nauman Hussein, whose father owns Prestige Limousine, was taken into custody, said the suspect’s lawyer, Lee Kindlon. Hussein, who operates the company, met with state police investigators for several hours.

Hussein’s father, Shahed Hussain, is currently out of the country.

The Wilton, N.Y.-based company owned the 2001 Ford Excursion that blew through a stop sign Saturday in Schoharie into the parking lot of the Apple Barrel Country Store, killing all 18 people in the car, including the driver, and two people in the packed lot before slamming into an embankment.

The company’s safety record and the vehicle’s history report have come under intense scrutiny since the crash. The limo failed two inspections this year, including one in March that revealed the hydraulic brakes were not working properly, officials said.

The driver’s wife, Kim Lisinicchia, told CBS that she overheard her husband, Scott, complain several times about the vehicle’s safety.

“I’m not going to drive this, like this,” she said, quoting her husband. “You need to get me another car.”

But then “he trusted in what the limo company said, that the cars were all right,” she said.

— New York Daily News