Family asks for troopers to be investigated after unborn baby dies following arrest, State Police shares bodycam footage

BINGHAMTON (WBNG) -- A Broome County family is demanding a police investigation after the death of an unborn child on March 20.

Personal Injury Attorney Ronald Benjamin, who is representing the Oranchak Family, alleged that the unborn child died as a result of Quashaia Oranchak, the expectant mother, being physically mishandled by New York State Police troopers during a traffic stop on the same date. She was six and a half months pregnant.

Benjamin alleged that Oranchak was forced off the road on State Street and then pulled out of her vehicle by troopers despite passengers announcing her pregnancy. This was around 1:51 p.m.

Drugs were found during the arrest and Oranchak was taken to the State Police barracks and then the Broome County Correctional Facility.

Around 8:30 p.m., Oranchak was taken to Wilson Hospital for an emergency C-section which had to be performed but the child was pronounced dead from trauma, Benjamin said.

“It is acknowledged that drugs were found but no one engaged in any violent conduct, no one resisted arrest, no one was doing anything other than in fact going to get laundry done when stopped by the police,” Benjamin said in a news release. “The stop violated numerous protocols and yanking her out of the car like a rag doll and slamming her on the hood of the vehicle undoubtedly caused this child’s untimely demise and as such the family is demanding that there be an impartial investigation into the police conduct and resulting homicide.”

The New York State Police said the unborn child’s death was not the result of misconduct.

In a news release, the State Police said troopers tried to stop Oranchak’s vehicle on Chenango Street but she failed to comply, continuing south on Chenango Street and then onto State Street. Police said a second trooper’s vehicle maneuvered in front of her vehicle to stop it, but her vehicle struck the side of the State Police vehicle before it came to a stop in a parking lot.

Police arrested Oranchak on drug charges and fleeing an officer in a motor vehicle in the third degree.

“While at the Broome County Jail, Oranchak, who was pregnant, became unresponsive and was transported to the hospital, where a quantity of fentanyl and methamphetamine was located secreted in her body,” State Police said. “The unborn child did not survive.”

New York State Police released bodycam footage from the responding troopers and posted the arrest on its YouTube channel.

Meanwhile, according to Broome County Sheriff Fred Akshar, Oranchak was charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance and promoting prison contraband by deputies. Akshar said the investigation into the incident is ongoing.

Benjamin said his team plans to file complaints with the Department of Justice and the New York State Attorney General’s Office.

Copyright 2023 WBNG. All rights reserved.