75-year-old South Huntingdon man accused of causing consecutive DUI crashes

A 75-year-old South Huntingdon man had an open bottle of whiskey in the front passenger seat of his SUV in two suspected DUI collisions along Route 31, state police said.

Joseph P. Shott is charged with two counts of drunk driving and single counts of fleeing the scene of an accident, disregarding traffic lanes, failing to stop and render aid, careless driving and reckless driving.

Both crashes occurred just after 3 p.m. June 13 in the village of Mendon in South Huntingdon, state police in Belle Vernon said.

Trooper Austin Weaver said Shott’s blood alcohol content was 0.19%, or more than twice the legal limit for drunk driving in Pennsylvania.

Weaver reported in court documents that Shott was eastbound on the two-lane highway when he crossed into the westbound lane and sideswiped a westbound car, forcing it off the road. Weaver said neither occupant was injured in the initial crash.

“Shott continued driving eastbound in the westbound lane and struck another vehicle, causing disabling damage to both cars,” Weaver wrote.

Both Shott and the driver of the second car, Michael Raishart , were flown to UPMC Presbyterian hospital in Pittsburgh for treatment. Raishart’s wife, Karen, was taken by ambulance to Excela Health Frick hospital in Mt. Pleasant, where she was treated and released.

“It was a head-on collision,” Michael Raishart said.

Raishart, a landscaper, said he still feels pain from the accident “every day, especially in my neck area.”

“But when you own your own business, what are you going to do? You have to go to work,” Raishart said.

Raishart said his wife and he have hired a private attorney.

“If I didn’t believe in angels before, I do now. It was really bad and I could have been injured a lot worse,” he said.

Raishart said he was in the hospital for one day, but returned to work at his landscaping business that week.

Weaver said in court documents that Shott admitted he was drinking prior to the crashes.

“After Mr. Shott was extricated from his vehicle, I observed a nearly half empty bottle of Southern Comfort whiskey lying on the passenger side front seat area. The bottle was cold to the touch,” Weaver wrote.

Shott has another pending DUI hearing following an arrest by state police in South Huntingdon March 13, according to court dockets.

Shott was served via mailed summons. He could not be reached for comment and an attorney was not listed in court documents.

A preliminary hearing before East Huntingdon District Judge Charles Moore is scheduled Oct. 21.