Woman charged in 2021 crash in North Strabane turns self into police
Mike Jones/Observer-Reporter
Bystanders work to free Kyrsten McHenry from her vehicle following a head-on crash with a dump truck along Route 519 in North Strabane Township on Dec. 8, 2021. McHenry was arrested Wednesday night in Indiana County after being charged in March 2022 with aggravated assault, accident causing injury and driving under the influence of a controlled substance.
Mike Jones/Observer-Reporter
The head-on crash along Route 519 in North Strabane Township on Dec. 8, 2021, caused this dump truck to roll over and spill its gravel load. The driver of the dump truck, Richard Dienert, was hospitalized for several days after suffering a head injury and broken vertebras, but he has since returned to work.
A woman accused of causing a head-on crash with a dump truck in North Strabane in 2021 turned herself into authorities Wednesday night hours after township police put out a call asking for the public’s help in finding her.
North Strabane police said Kyrsten D. McHenry was high on methamphetamine and driving without a license or car insurance when she crossed the centerline on Route 519 near the North Strabane Municipal Building and struck the tri-axle dump truck on Dec. 8, 2021.
Police charged her in March 2022 with aggravated assault, accident involving injury and driving under the influence in connection with the crash; however, she never responded to the summons filed at District Judge Michael Manfredi’s office, and the case remained in limbo for more than 17 months.
That prompted North Strabane police to post on the department’s Facebook page Wednesday afternoon that they were looking for McHenry and asked anyone who might know where she was to contact them. Seven hours after the original post alerting the public that officers were unable to find her, the police department updated its post announcing that she had been taken into custody.
North Strabane police said Thursday morning that she turned herself in to state police in Indiana County. She was arraigned by a magistrate in Homer City and is jailed on $75,000 bond while awaiting extradition back to Washington County. She is not expected to face additional charges.
According to court documents, McHenry was driving south on Route 519 when she crossed the centerline and sideswiped a northbound tri-axle dump truck, which rolled over onto its side and spilled its gravel load across the roadway. McHenry’s sedan careened into a ditch and rolled onto its roof.
Witnesses attempted to help both drivers, but McHenry had to be removed from the vehicle by North Strabane firefighters, and she was flown by medical helicopter to a Pittsburgh hospital for treatment. The driver of the dump truck, Richard Dienert, was hospitalized for several days after suffering a head injury and broken vertebras, according to court documents. Dienert has since returned to his job as a truck driver, police said.
Police said they found drug paraphernalia in McHenry’s car, and blood tests taken at the hospital showed she had methamphetamine, amphetamine and THC in her system, court documents allege.
McHenry is believed to have changed residences following the crash, meaning the summons may have gone to an old address. McHenry, 29, has recent addresses listed in Uniontown and Pitcarin, while her vehicle involved in the crash had an expired license plate registered in Ohio. It’s not known if she is now living in Indiana County or was just visiting that area.