Charges held against Adah man accused in fatal police chase
Homicide and related charges were held against an Adah man accused of leading police on a vehicle chase that ended in a fatal crash in October, following a preliminary hearing held Monday in central court.
Magisterial District Judge Ronald Haggerty ordered 23-year-old Jonathan Switch to stand trial on charges of criminal homicide, homicide by vehicle, aggravated assault, accident involving death or injury, three counts of reckless endangerment, and two counts each of resisting arrest and fleeing.
Police allege Switch was fleeing a traffic stop on Route 119 when he headed toward Leisenring on Bute Road on Oct. 23. The chase reached speeds of 70 to 80 mph, and Switch allegedly swerved around a vehicle waiting to turn left off Bute Road, police said.
A state police vehicle involved in the chase struck that vehicle as it attempted to make the turn, fatally injuring the driver, Bendetta Lynn Miller.
Walter Lehman III testified he was heading south on Bute Road and preparing to make a right turn to go toward his home on Lower Oliver 3 Road when he saw the SUV that Switch was allegedly driving and police cars coming down the opposing lane. Lehman said the SUV swerved briefly into his lane, coming within about a foot of his car.
District Attorney Jack R. Heneks Jr. asked what happened after he made the right.
“I seen a police vehicle smash into a red car,” said Lehman. “It was brutal. The impact was just extreme.”
He said Miller’s car “went flying” and “kind of bounced.”
According to police, the chase began as a routine traffic stop after Switch was observed driving erratically on the bypass.
State police Trooper Marc Packrall testified he was on his way back to the Uniontown barracks when he first encountered a dark blue ford Explorer on the Route 119 bypass in the northbound lane shortly before noon.
Packrall told the court he saw the SUV cross the white center line twice. The second time, the SUV nearly hit his police cruiser, Packrall testified.
“He braked, and he gave me kind of an ‘I’m sorry’ wave out the window,” Packrall said. “That’s when I initiated the stop.”
The SUV pulled over, and Packrall said he approached it from the passenger side. He said he was able to make eye contact with Switch in the passenger sideview mirror, and that was when Switch took off, making a U-turn across the center median and heading south.
Packrall testified another officer, Trooper Scott Abbott, was behind him in another police cruiser, and that he also joined the chase as it went onto Bute Road.
State police Cpl. John Marshall testified that when he interviewed Switch the morning after the crash, Switch told him the reason he fled was because he panicked. Marshall said Switch told him he was on parole, that his license was suspended and that the SUV was not registered.
Packrall said the crash happened after he and Switch passed the intersection of Bute and Lower Oliver 3 Roads. Packrall testified he saw Switch swerve around Miller, and that he was in close pursuit, also swerving to avoid Miller. He was focused on Switch and couldn’t see behind him, Packrall said, but he heard Abbott crash into Miller over the radio.
“After I heard the crash, I terminated the pursuit, saying, ‘I got a good look at the guy,'” Packrall testified.
Footage from the dashboard camera in Packrall’s vehicle, police were able to identify the vehicle, which was eventually located in New Salem at Switch’s sister’s boyfriend’s house.
Miller was taken by helicopter to Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown, West Virginia, where she later died of blunt force trauma to the head, face, thorax and abdomen, according to the autopsy report from forensic pathologist Dr. Cyril Wecht.
Abbott suffered a hip injury, and has not yet returned to work, according to testimony.
Connor unsuccessfully argued there was no evidence put forth by the commonwealth that Miller’s death was the result of Switch’s actions, and asked Haggerty to enter a judgment of acquittal in the matter.
Heneks countered by saying that the elements of homicide by vehicle have been established, and that there was enough evidence that Switch acted so recklessly, a jury could find he had the malice in his heart to support a third degree murder conviction.
Outside of court, neither Switch, Connor nor Heneks elected to comment on the proceedings.
Switch’s stepfather and mother, Gary and Dawn Molek, did speak though, saying that although they acknowledge Switch made a mistake by fleeing, they believe their son is not responsible for Miller’s death.
“We feel the officer was responsible,” said Gary Molek.
The Moleks extended sympathy, condolences and prayers to Miller’s family, but said it wasn’t Switch who killed her.
Switch will be scheduled for trial at a later date. He remains in Fayette County Prison without bond.