Crane truck driver may have caused Route 21 fatal wreck
WAYNESBURG – The driver of a crane truck involved in a fatal crash Monday on Route 21 at Murtha Drive may have caused the crash by failing to stop for a red light at the intersection, state police said Tuesday.
Kenneth E. Bittinger III, 37, of LaBelle, was driving a 2005 Terex crane truck east on Route 21 at 3:32 p.m. and allegedly failed to stop for a steady red light at the intersection with Murtha Drive, police said.
Bittinger’s truck struck the driver’s side of a 2014 Ford Explorer driven by Saundra K. Hanko, 65, of Sycamore. Hanko was entering Route 21 from Murtha Drive intending to drive west on Route 21, police said
Hanko was pronounced dead at the scene by Greene County Coroner Gregory P. Rohanna. Bittinger was taken to Ruby Memorial Hospital, Morgantown, W.Va. The hospital had no listing of Bittinger being a patient Tuesday morning.
State police continue to investigate the crash. A state police crash reconstruction expert was at the scene Monday afternoon.
The highway remained closed until about 9 p.m. Monday.