Man acquitted in fatal crash

A Washington County jury acquitted a Belle Vernon man Wednesday on charges stemming from a 2015 fatal vehicle crash in Somerset Township.
Jurors found Tyler Buck Belford, 36, not guilty on charges of involuntary manslaughter and homicide by vehicle filed after the Jan. 3, 2015, crash that killed Donna Simboli, 58, of Monongahela. The pickup truck Belford was driving struck the subcompact car in which Simboli was riding.
“It’s a difficult case. You have the death of an individual,” said Gary Gerson, Belford’s attorney, adding the jury “worked hard at this” and reached the appropriate decision.
He argued during the trial the crash was a “tragic accident” and his client’s actions weren’t criminal.
Belford, a decorated U.S. Navy veteran, testified he was on call that night, but the natural gas meter he needed to fix was not an emergency.
Christopher Weber, who was driving the Ford Fiesta with Simboli in the front passenger seat, testified Monday the couple went shopping in South Strabane Township, where they dined before heading home by way of Route 136 about 7 p.m. Weber said he approached the intersection, and it looked as if the truck “was going to stop. It was like a coasting stop.” He was in the intersection before he realized the truck also was coming through it.
Simboli, a bank manager and mother of two, died before she could be evacuated by medical helicopter.
Jurors deliberated more than seven hours, starting mid-afternoon Tuesday and returning with a decision late Wednesday morning.
“I think the issue was obviously recklessness and gross negligence,” said Assistant District Attorney Leslie Ridge. She argued during the trial Belford’s actions met those criteria.
Forensic evidence gathered from Belford’s truck’s computerized crash data retrieval system showed it did not stop during the five seconds before the collision. Drivers on Brownlee Road face double stop signs on Brownlee before they enter Route 136. A white “bar” designates the area where a vehicle must halt.
Gerson stressed during the trial his client’s relatively slow speed – 18 mph, slightly faster than the limit in an active school zone – as he drove through the intersection right before the crash. The Ford Fiesta he struck was traveling at 46 mph, or six miles per hour over the posted speed limit, according to trial testimony.
Gerson said his “supposition” was that jurors “appropriately decided that the driver of the vehicle in which Ms. Simboli was riding did not have the lights on.”
Belford testified he did not recall seeing the Ford’s headlights before the crash. He saw headlights of a car 600 or 700 feet away but didn’t know if they belonged to the car he hit.
Belford conceded under questioning by Ridge that he had not mentioned that lack of headlights in written and videotaped statements he gave to state troopers that night. Belford wrote his statement in what he described as a “chaotic” emergency department where he was being treated for head and neck injuries.
The Fiesta’s dashboard headlight switch was positioned “on,” although the headlights were not illuminating. Trooper Chad Weaver testified firefighters typically disable a crashed car’s battery so it will not spark a fire.
Following the jury’s verdict, Judge Michael J. Lucas decided four summary traffic offenses also stemming from the crash. He found Belford guilty of careless driving, failure to drive at a safe speed and failure to stop at a stop sign, but not guilty of reckless driving.
Belford testified he lost his natural gas technician’s job Jan. 1 because of the collision.
“(Belford) regrets his mistake, and not a day goes by when he doesn’t think of the incident, and his sympathies and the sympathies of his family members go out to the Simboli family,” Gerson said following the verdict.