PITTSBURGH – Two men accused of racing on public highways in western Pennsylvania face charges in a crash involving a school van that killed a teenage girl.
The crash also sent three other juveniles and two seriously injured adults – including one of the defendants – to the hospital.
Allegheny County Police say the Serra Catholic High School van was trying to make a left turn when it was hit by a northbound sedan on Sept. 20 in Dravosburg.
The medical examiner’s office said 15-year-old Samantha Lee Kalkbrenner died at the scene.
Authorities said three of the four students in the van, including Kalkbrenner, were ejected and the driver of the van was also seriously injured.
William Soliday II, 43, of Irwin, whose car hit the van, is charged with criminal homicide, vehicular homicide, and multiple counts of aggravated assault and reckless endangerment, authorities said.
Andrew Voigt, 37, of Pittsburgh, whose vehicle entered the intersection shortly after the crash, was charged with accident involving death or injury and reckless endangerment, authorities said.
The two men, who worked at the same place nearby, allegedly raced on the highway.
Andrew Voight (left) and William Soliday II are charged in connection with an accident with a school van that left a student dead. Samantha Lee Kalkbrenner, 15, was killed in a September crash in Dravosburg, Pennsylvania. GoFundMe
Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala said authorities believe the two drivers were racing and that the vehicle had been converted “into a deadly weapon.”
Investigators said the first car was believed to be traveling over 100 mph shortly before the crash and the second vehicle was about two seconds behind.
Soliday’s attorney, Casey White, told reporters his client suffered multiple head trauma and had no memory of the crash and even left the house that day.
The two men were allegedly racing on the highway at the time of the incident. WTAE The crash sent three other juveniles and two adults to the hospital. WTAE
He said the crash was an accident and there was no malice on his client’s part, and “words cannot describe the remorse he has, his family.”
“It’s a very shocking situation,” Voigt’s attorney David Shrager told WPXI-TV, adding how many people “have been in bad accidents and not stopped?”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
