NY Teen Mason Ruggaber ID’d As Victim In Monday Bethlehem Motorcycle Crash

GLENMONT, N.Y. (THECOUNT) — Delmar, New York teen, Mason Ruggaber, has been identified as the motorcyclist killed after his bike collided with a southbound SUV on Route 9W at Magee Drive in Glenmont, New York, Monday night, the Bethlehem Police Department reported. Ruggaber, 19, was pronounced dead at the scene.

The SUV driver, Eric Thompson, 53, of Glenmont, was transported to Albany Medical Center Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

According to the Bethlehem Police Department, the Selkirk Fire Department received the 911 call at approximately 7:45 p.m. on April 27. The preliminary investigation indicates Thompson’s SUV was traveling southbound on Route 9W when it collided with Ruggaber’s motorcycle, which was traveling northbound. The impact ejected Ruggaber, whose body came to rest approximately 100 feet from the point of impact, landing near a neighbor’s front door, according to a witness at the scene. Route 9W was closed for several hours as Bethlehem Police crash investigation personnel responded and conducted a crash reconstruction. All parties involved are cooperating with investigators.

The crash remains under investigation to determine contributing factors.

Ruggaber was a recent graduate of Bethlehem Central High School, having received his diploma in June 2025. Delmar, where he lived, is a hamlet in the Town of Bethlehem in Albany County, directly south of the City of Albany and adjacent to Glenmont. The two communities share the Town of Bethlehem, a suburban municipality in southern Albany County with a combined population of approximately 35,000 as of the 2020 census.

Glenmont is a hamlet in the Town of Bethlehem in Albany County, situated along the west bank of the Hudson River approximately 5 miles south of downtown Albany and roughly 30 miles north of the Hudson Valley city of Kingston. Route 9W is a major north-south state highway that runs the length of the Hudson River’s western shore, connecting Albany to the New York metropolitan area via the Palisades corridor. In Albany County, 9W is a primary arterial road serving both through-traffic and local residential neighborhoods in the Glenmont and Delmar areas.

Albany County is located in the Capital District region of eastern New York, anchored by Albany — the state capital — and bordered to the east by the Hudson River and Rensselaer County. The county had a population of approximately 314,000 as of the 2020 census. The Town of Bethlehem, where the crash occurred, is one of Albany County’s most populous suburban towns and is served by the Bethlehem Police Department, a full-service municipal agency that handles all traffic crash investigations within town limits including the Glenmont and Delmar hamlets.

Selkirk Fire Chief Thomas Neri confirmed that firefighters responded to the scene minutes after the 911 call was received and assisted Bethlehem Police with traffic control. Albany Medical Center Hospital, where Thompson was treated, is the region’s primary Level I trauma center located in Albany.

Bethlehem Police said no charges had been announced as of Tuesday and that the investigation into contributing factors — including speed, right-of-way, and other circumstances — remains active. The Bethlehem Police Department has not indicated whether other motorcyclists in the area at the time of the crash were involved in or witnesses to the collision.

The approximate location of the fatal crash at Route 9W and Magee Drive in Glenmont can be viewed on Google Maps.

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