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Pedestrian killed in Pavilion

By Billie Owens

A pedestrian has been struck and killed by a motor vehicle on Route 63 in Pavilion.

The accident occurred at 6935 Ellicott Street Road (Route 63) and Route 19.

Pavilion Fire Department is responding. Medics are told to proceed in nonemergency mode.

UPDATE (12:56 p.m.): A coroner is heading to the scene. There are no reports of traffic problems.

UPDATE (1:03 p.m.): It is requested that "Pastor Green" be asked to come to the scene.

UPDATE (2:20 p.m.): The family was notified at 2:07 p.m. All units are back in service. No other information is available yet.

UPDATE 2:40 p.m. (by Howard): A white pickup truck, an older Dodge Ram with an apparent lift kit, struck a female pedestrian in the crosswalk. The truck did stop after striking her. It was parked about 80 yards from the intersection, and it appears its oil pan or similar car part from the undercarriage had been knocked off. At the time we spoke, Sgt. Steve Mullen said next-of-kin in Rochester had not been notified, so the victim had not been publicly identified at that time. The accident is under investigation and no further details are yet available.

UPDATE 4:14 p.m.: The victim has been identified as Dorothy Ring, 84, of Pavilion. Ring was walking across the street, at a crosswalk, Route 63, when she was struck by a 1994 Dodge Ram 3500 pickup truck driven by Larry A. Cook, 24, of Avon. Cook was northbound on Route 19 when he made a left-hand turn onto Route 63.

The investigation is continuing and possible charges are pending. It is being conducted by Deputy Brian Thompson and Deputy Eric Seppela from the crash-reconstruction team along with Investigator Timothy Weis.

Assisting at the scene were Chief Deputy Jerome Brewster, Sgt. Steve Mullen, Deputy John Baiocco, Genesee County Sheriff's Office Chaplin Phil Green, the Pavilion Volunteer Fire Department and Mercy medical personal.

Billie Owens

No, Jess, typically names are not released until police deem it appropriate and the next of kin is contacted. Names of those killed in accidents are also not aired over the scanner.

Howard went to the scene but officers did not release the name.

If they had done so, we would have published it. When they do so, we will publish it.

Nov 16, 2010, 2:19pm Permalink
Mardell Lamb

This is such a sad and tragic accident here in Pavilion. Mrs. Fay was the sweetest, most loviest lady. She made her daily route to the post office; which I'm pretty sure that's where she was going at the time of the accident. She was just the tiniest, loviest woman who smiled at everyone. Can you imagine how many times she has crossed that road to get her mail? This town will miss her terribly. She was a lady of finery ~ always dressed just so, and talked and smiled to everyone. She is admired. A very SAD day here in Pavilion. I'll never forget her beautiful roses she grew outside of her home, and the lovely tomatoes on the side of her house.

And a big thanks to the quick response the Pavilion Rescue Squad. Don Roblee, always quick to respond and very compassionate and good at what you do. And a big thanks to Jim Rudgers, too. You ALL are amazing.

Our hearts are heavy this evening.

Nov 16, 2010, 7:22pm Permalink
Kathy Owen

I met Dorothy Ring thru a mutual friend just two years ago. I came to Pavilion every two weeks Spring thru Fall and I'd stop at Dorothy's to take care of a chore she had asked me to do for her. I found her to be such a delightful person, always cheerful and you couldn't help but notice that twinkle in her eye. She always sent me home with lots of rhubarb and little tomatoes.Everything grew well for Dorothy! I spent time now and then just talking with her and the last thing we talked about were her memories as a kid of as establishment her parents owned on State Street in Batavia years back. I promised her I'd see what I could dig up about the business and if pictures existed of the storefront. I could imagine that this next year on my visits to Pavilion, I would have spent ever more time chatting with Dorothy. The thing is....we have to remember to stop going so fast. Spend more time listening to our elders, their stories, their wisdom. Because one day when we don't expect it, they are gone. Thank you Dorothy for your friendship as brief as it was. I am happy to have known you!

Nov 17, 2010, 8:00pm Permalink
Kyle Couchman

Kathy....just a suggestion, please still dig that stuff up and give it to Dorothy's Family. It would really be a wonderful thing to do..... a perfect memorial to her. God Bless you Dorothy, well all see ya when we get there.

Nov 17, 2010, 9:10pm Permalink
Alyssa Park

Here's to Dennis, the "catchy" photographer at the scene of the accident. The photo that you put up of the "hillbilly showing his IQ" is a family member of mine. And after talking with him, it seems as if you were out of line in the way you were creeping around corners trying to get pictures of Mrs. Ring, and everything else that was going on. And this makes me sick to my stomach. Her husband, family, and friends did not know what happened yet and you were trying to take photos of her.. there shouldn't be any photos out there of that in my opinion. So we all should take the time out and say thanks to that "hillbilly" who was just protecting Mrs. Ring's and her families privacy. You should take these kind of things into consideration next time you think about the 'great shot' you might have that, that might be someones, mother/father, child, aunt/uncle, sister/brother, and see that you wouldn't want that done to someone close to you. And to Mardell Lamb and Kathy Owen, thank you for taking your time out to show everyone reading this how great of a person she really was. R.I.P. Mrs. Dorothy Ring, Pavilion will truly miss you.

Nov 22, 2010, 9:30am Permalink
Howard B. Owens

Dennis didn't take the photo, a Daily News photographer did, and he was only doing his job.

I can't speak for Rocco, but having been at the same scene, I can tell you my approach -- get as many pictures from as many different angles as possible and then pick one that appropriately tells the true story.

You might get some pictures that you won't want to publish, but not taking a picture just because it might be something you won't publish means taking a you might miss getting the best photo to share with readers. It's a balancing act full of judgment calls.

Fires, accidents, other events of human drama can be hard things to cover, but it's the photojournalist's job to get the picture.

My approach is to get right in there and start snapping. While at the scene is not the place to make value judgments about what to publish or not -- you do that with more reflection and consideration after you've reviewed the pictures on your computer.

In this case, I walked 360 degrees around the scene, taking pictures from every angle, but mindful that I knew I wouldn't show a shot that revealed all of the blue tarp. In other situations, where things are happening faster, I might not take time to frame my shots as carefully. If I had gotten there sooner, my approach might have been very different (I was in court that day, covering the Scott Doll trial; the Daily's photographer was already on scene when I got there, and in fact, it's quite possible that I stopped my truck just before he snapped this very picture so I wouldn't interfere with his shot -- I saw him holding up his camera and didn't want to pull in front of him.)

Alyssa, your family member's actions were, in my opinion, inappropriate.

Nov 22, 2010, 10:22am Permalink
C. M. Barons

I'll never forget, while working at the Daily News, I was awakened one Easter morning by a phone call from a stringer for the Buffalo News (maybe, Joe Garrity) who wanted me to photograph a fatality in Byron. The fatality involved a child crossing Rt 262 to get an Easter Egg that had been hidden in the mailbox. In the child's excitement, she overlooked traffic and was struck down by a vehicle. When I arrived at the scene, the child remained covered in the road. Several volunteers from the Byron Fire Department were present. Realizing my intent, they encircled the child to hide her from my camera. Despite the defiant expressions, their protective barrier was a poignant image.

That morning I felt like an intruder. I never rationalized that feeling. I knew I had been sent to an essentially private place. I understood that my assignment could result in exploitation as well as documentation. Avoiding exploitation requires humanizing the lens. An image of emergency workers spontaneously encircling a dead child shows human reaction to the death of a child. Photojournalism at its best reveals more than it documents.

Anyone who merely sees "a hillbilly flashing his IQ" has failed to embrace the context of the photograph. That failure derives from composition- not vision. Classic photos such as the Life Magazine portfolio often resulted from painstaking efforts in the darkroom- what we now refer to as Photoshop. Truth, a jumble of emergency vehicles, is ho-hum. Mardell and Kathy's anecdotes: they got the story.

One of my favorite T/L photos...

http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1858220_1796776,00.html

Nov 22, 2010, 11:58am Permalink
Alyssa Park

Howard. If my family members actions were so inappropriate, and its a photojournalists job to pick and choose the pictures that are supposed to go up. Then why is that photo put up. That photo showed nothing of the accident at all, no emergency vehicles or any part of the accident was in it. He purposefully took the picture of him, because he was flipping him off. Are you going to try and tell me that this is "his job"? I dont think so. This photo should simply just not be up.

Nov 25, 2010, 1:02pm Permalink
Howard B. Owens

It was a very newsworthy photo. It was of the truck that hit Mrs. Ring. It was an entirely appropriate point for a focal point of a photo*.

I doubt seriously the photographer saw your family member in the background while taking the photo, and I'm guessing was so concentrating on having captured that newsworthy aspect that he didn't even notice your family member in the background while processing the photo.

It's telling that the Daily News removed the picture from its web site -- not an action that I agree with -- after it was pointed out here what was going on in the background.

*It's also worth noting that it was the truck that was in focus, while the family member was out of focus, clearly showing the intent of the photographer to make the truck, not the family member, the subject of the photo. And I'll just add, if your family member doesn't want to sure up in the media in embarrassing pictures, perhaps he should not go around flipping off news photographers. If I had taken the photo, I would have used it, even if I noticed your family member, and I wouldn't have taken it down later. C.M. Barons makes a good point above about the reactions of the people at the scene being as newsworthy as the main event.

Nov 25, 2010, 2:03pm Permalink

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