Ohio woman charged in deadly wrong-way crash on Mon-Fayette Expressway
An Ohio woman is facing homicide by vehicle charges after state police said she caused a wrong-way crash on the Mon-Fayette Expressway in Washington County that killed the other motorist.
Maciola B. Newman, 72, of Pickerington, was driving north in the southbound lanes of the Route 43 toll road in Fallowfield Township shortly before 4:30 a.m. July 14 when she crashed head-on into a car driven by Jacob M. Huber, police said.
Huber, 24, of Ruffs Dale, died at the scene of the crash while Newman and her passenger, 38-year-old Charles E. Newman, were trapped in their vehicle. Firefighters had to cut them from their car and state police attempted to interview them, although both were incoherent following the crash, according to court documents.
They were both flown by medical helicopters to a Pittsburgh hospital for what state police described as serious injuries.
The crash happened at mile-marker 37 just north of the interchange with Interstate 70, police said. Troopers closed the southbound lanes of Route 43 for several hours while investigating the crash.
Police did not indicate in court documents how or where Newman’s vehicle entered the southbound lanes, or how long she was traveling the wrong way before striking Huber’s car.
Troopers with the state police’s Troop T barracks that patrol Pennsylvania Turnpike toll roads filed the charges against Newman this week. In addition to the felony homicide by vehicle charge, Newman is facing misdemeanor counts of involuntary manslaughter and reckless endangerment, along with several summary citations.
She was arraigned Tuesday morning by District Judge Eric Porter and released on $50,000 unsecured bond ahead of her preliminary hearing scheduled for Oct. 22 at 11 a.m.