Operator of limousine company in deadly New York crash in custody: police

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The operator of a limousine company that owned the vehicle involved in a crash that killed 20 people in upstate New York has been taken into custody on unspecified charges, New York State Police said on Wednesday.

Nauman Hussain, the operator of Prestige Limousine, was taken into custody following a traffic stop, police said in a statement.

State police said details on charges against Hussain were pending, but the New York Times on Wednesday reported that he was expected to be charged with criminally negligent homicide, citing the company's lawyer, Lee Kindlon.

"I can confirm that he's been taken into custody," said Kindlon's assistant, Mary Peterson, in a phone interview. Peterson declined to comment further and Kindlon was not immediately available for comment.

The vehicle, carrying 17 people on their way to a birthday party on Saturday, ran a stop sign at a highway intersection in Schoharie, about 40 miles (65 km) west of Albany, police and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said.

It crashed into an unoccupied parked car and two pedestrians before coming to a rest in a shallow ravine, officials said, killing the driver, all 17 passengers and the two pedestrians.