A truck hauling a mobile home trailer with no wheels on U.S. Route 219 early Sunday in the town of Carrollton, N.Y., not only caught the attention of other drivers, but also the ire of deputies with the Cattaraugus County Sheriff’s Office.
The trailer became even more noticeable — and an obstruction — when it was later abandoned on South Nine Mile Road after the contraption crashed and the driver couldn’t pull it any farther.
Charged Tuesday with second-degree criminal nuisance and various vehicle and traffic laws were town of Great Valley, N.Y., residents, Brandon L. Maynard, 32, of 4913 Raecher Road, who was the operator; and passengers, Sandra K. Watson, 47, of 5993 Humphrey Road; Todd E. Clark, 53, of 5993 Humphrey Road; and Jacob E. Clark, 28, of 5689 Clark Road.
Undersheriff Robert Buchhardt said deputies were alerted to the situation about 7:30 a.m. by a caller who complained a truck was hauling a trailer with no wheels south on Route 219. When deputies arrived at the intersecting road of South Nine Mile Road, where the truck had turned off Route 219, they noticed the axles on the trailer had broken causing it to crash and become unmovable on the road.
Buchhardt said other vehicles had to drive well into the opposite lane and on the berm to get around the trailer.
“They were hauling it out of Kill Buck (N.Y.) to get rid of the thing because the owner was buying a new double-wide mobile home,” Buchhardt explained. “Except, of course, they didn’t hook it up correctly, they didn’t have any permits from the state of New York and it wasn’t (transported) by a licensed hauler.”
Buchhardt said the driver and occupants of the truck left the scene of the incident when they discovered they couldn’t move the mobile home any farther.
“The deputies ended up getting Portville Truck up there to at least get the trailer moved off the roadway,” he continued. Deputies eventually tracked down the group to Great Valley by following gouges in the road created by the broken axles and using other leads.
“If they would have had a licensed person to haul this thing it would have saved them a whole lot of aggravation,” Buchhardt added, noting the individuals will have to pay fines for the violations.
Buchhardt speculated the axles broke on the mobile home after years of sitting unused or in storage while the trailer served as a residence.
“When you go and put them back on the mobile home, they’ve never been greased and the tires were dry rotted,” he surmised.
“That’s not the first time that has happened with us,” Buchhardt recalled. “I had a guy, years ago, decide he was going to move an old single-wide mobile home with a farm tractor and that didn’t work out so good.”
Deputies said Maynard was charged with second-degree criminal nuisance, operating without a legal escort permit, aggravated unlicensed operation, no rear brakes, leaving the scene of a property damage accident, overwidth vehicle, no taxation tag and depositing hazardous debris on a public highway. Watson, Todd Clark and Jacob Clark were each charged with second-degree criminal nuisance and operating without a legal escort permit. All four will be scheduled to appear in the Town of Carrollton Court at a later date.
