Man charged in fatal Greene County accident
WAYNESBURG — A Kentucky man has recently been charged for his role in a three-vehicle accident in Jefferson Borough two years ago that resulted in the death of a Fayette County man.
State police said Jonathan Aaron Tucker, 27, of Jenkins, Kentucky, was driving his Dodge Ram 1500 along Jefferson Road on March 30, 2014, when he failed to stop at a stop sign at the intersection with Pine Street.
According to an affidavit filed by Trooper David Schweikart, Tucker’s vehicle struck a Honda Accord driven by Erin L. Bookhardt, 72, of Hiller. His vehicle was pushed into the oncoming eastbound lane and into the path of a Nissan Frontier driven by Wiley Barnhart.
Bookhardt was taken to Allegheny General Hospital and died on April 13, 2014, as a result of blunt force trauma of the head and trunk, police said.
Wiley Barnhart sustained five broken ribs, while his passenger, Mary Barnhart, sustained 10 broken ribs, a broken sternum, a concussion and permanent paralysis of her right vocal chord, Schweikart wrote.
Tucker told police at the scene that he was traveling around 35 to 45 miles per hour and felt as if “he was sucked into the intersection,” according to the affidavit.
Schweikart wrote that after accident reconstruction, they determined that Tucker was traveling “49 miles per hour leading up to the crash in a posted 35 mph zone.” Several witnesses told police that Tucker’s truck failed to stop at the stop sign.
Tucker was charged with one count of vehicular homicide, two counts of aggravated assault by vehicle and three counts of recklessly endangering another person, in addition to several summary traffic violations.
The charges were filed in the office of Magisterial District Judge Glenn Bates on March 24. A warrant is being served to Tucker regarding the charges, according to a representative from Bates’ office.