It's been one year since 18-year-old Seth Collier was struck and killed by former Onondaga County district attorney's investigator Peter Rauch.
Even after a year, there is much the public does not know -- until now. Spectrum News obtained a copy of the Syracuse Police Department's Collision Reconstruction Report, which reveals key points from the investigation.
The report says Rauch drank for nearly nine hours and consumed a minimum of 17 drinks, seen on surveillance video, before the crash that killed Seth Collier. He drank at three separate establishments from 4:15 p.m. until approximately 1 a.m. that morning.
The car Rauch was driving was a county-owned and assigned vehicle. Rauch was only authorized to use the car when he was on duty or on call. But according to the police report, he was off duty and not on call at the time of the collision that killed Collier.
On March 21, 2017, Rauch was with Benjamin Mahshie and then-Syracuse firefighter/paramedic Ted Ackerman. At 1:30 a.m., the first of four 911 calls came in reporting a hit-and-run – none of those callers were Rauch, Mashie or Ackerman.
Rauch hit Collier with his car at 1:29 a.m. Shortly after, Ackerman slowed down in his truck as he drove by Collier lying in the street.
There were a total of seven surveillance systems reviewed in the course of the investigation. They included the two city of Syracuse cameras on North Salina Street, exterior camera at Jumping Jupiter, interior and exterior cameras at the Pastime Athletic Club, exterior camera at Lookers, the interior camera at Twin Trees Too, and interior cameras used at Singers Karaoke Bar.
The report also says that at just after 2:30 a.m. that day, video shows Ted Ackerman started to unplug the surveillance system cameras at Pastime Athletic club, where he was the president, and the system went black seconds later.
The accident reconstruction showed the Rauch was driving approximately 43 miles per hour in a 30 mile-per-hour zone, and 10 hours after the crash, his blood alcohol content was tested. His BAC was .04 percent at that point.
Editor’s Note: Spectrum News has redacted from the police report names of people who were not directly part of the criminal investigation into Seth Collier’s death.