Cops: Driver was speeding, had cocaine in system in fatal Salem Township crash

A North Versailles man testified Friday that he was alarmed when he saw a white pickup truck speed past his car along Route 22 in Salem Township as they approached a steady red light on Aug. 10, 2018.

“I was in the process of slowing down when I saw the truck pass me on my left, and there was a car already stopped at the red light ahead of him. I knew there was going to be a crash … it was horrific,” Michael Lanigan testified before Washington Township District Judge Jason Buczak.

After listening to testimony from multiple witnesses, the driver of the Ford F-150 pickup truck — Brian Keith Clemons, 42, of Normantown, W.Va. — was ordered to stand trial on charges of homicide by vehicle, driving under the influence and related offenses in the crash that killed Charles V. Hodgkins, 27, of Greensburg.

Clemons lived in New Alexandria at the time of the crash.

Hodgkins died at AHN Forbes Hospital in Monroeville after being extricated from his Chrysler sedan after the 9 a.m. crash, police said. His wife, Brittany, and their 3-year-old daughter, Brianna, both passengers, were seriously injured.

Brittany Hodgkins was treated at Allegheny General Hospital. Their daughter, who was restrained in a child seat, was treated at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh.

The family had just dropped off their dog at a veterinarian’s office and was heading to breakfast, Brittany Hodgkins testified. She told Buczak that she doesn’t remember many details.

“I just remember coming up to a red light and I was in the passenger seat. The next thing I remember is someone holding my hand in the ambulance saying I was in a bad accident,” Hodgkins said.

Hodgkins said she was initially treated at Forbes, but transferred to AGH for treatment of a severed artery in her neck and broken ribs. She was in the hospital for two weeks and still takes medication, she said.

Brianna suffered a broken leg and a facial fracture, her mother testified. The girl was admitted to UPMC Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh for three days after the crash.

Trooper Anthony Baum said that although Clemons passed field sobriety tests at the scene, blood tests showed he had cocaine in his system.

Under cross-examination by Clemons’ attorney, Michael Garofalo of Greensburg, Baum admitted that troopers did not suspect Clemons was driving impaired.

The lab technician who performed the forensic analysis of the blood sample could only say that Clemons had been under the influence of cocaine within 24 hours of the crash, Assistant District Attorney Michael Pacek said

“They can’t say for certain whether Mr. Clemons was impaired at the time of the crash,” Pacek told Buczak.

Baum also testified that Clemons admitted in interviews that the crash was his fault because he did not notice the car stopped at the red light. The trooper said an accident reconstruction team indicated that Clemons was driving approximately 67 mph in the 55 mph zone at the time of the crash.

Clemons pleaded not guilty and became emotional during portions of the hearing. He was jailed last month for failing to appear at an unrelated criminal mischief hearing before Derry District Judge Mark Bilik.

Garofalo argued that Buczak should dismiss the DUI charge because Baum said investigators did not suspect Clemons was impaired.

However, Pacek countered that state DUI law does not require proof of actual impairment, as long as the prosecution proves an amount of a controlled substance was in a driver’s system at the time of the crash.

Pacek also argued that Clemons’ admitted the crash was his fault in interviews, “and his negligent conduct caused the death of Mr. Hodgkins.”

Buczak agreed with Pacek’s argument and ruled sufficient evidence was presented for the case to proceed to trial.