Driver faces trial on charges of being high when he struck man in wheelchair, breaking his neck
A 63-year-old man was high on methamphetamine and driving with a suspended license when he darted his car around a Pittsburgh Regional Transit bus in Duquesne last September and struck a man in a wheelchair, breaking his neck, police said.
The driver, Nicola Migliori, of Monongahela, had his preliminary hearing Tuesday.
The case now heads to trial in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court.
Migliori was driving Sept. 9 around 5 p.m. at Crawford Avenue and Pirl Street when a bus in front of him stopped to let off riders, a criminal complaint said.
Migliori drove onto the wrong side of the road, where Charles Ausbrooks “just appeared in front him,” Migliori told police, according to the complaint. Ausbrooks had just gotten off the bus.
Police did not provide the victim’s age or where he lives.
Ausbrooks’ wheelchair was destroyed in the collision, the complaint said. First responders took Ausbrooks to the hospital.
Migliori told police he didn’t see a nearby stop sign, the complaint said. He later told police he had used meth “just before he drove the vehicle.”
Duquesne police Officer Justin Montani found drugs resembling “a crack rock” in Migliori’s pocket, the complaint said. His blood tested positive for methamphetamine, according to police.
Migliori also was driving on a suspended license, police said.
Police charged Migliori in December with 11 counts, two of them felonies, including aggravated assault by vehicle while DUI, recklessly endangering another person, drug possession and multiple motor vehicle violations.
He was arrested Feb. 5 and taken to the Allegheny County Jail, court records show. He was released last month on nonmonetary bond.
Migliori is set to appear in Common Pleas court on April 21 for DUI charges in a separate incident in Clairton on Dec. 13.
Court records show Migliori pleaded guilty to a DUI charge in a 2015 incident. Common Pleas Judge Kelly Bigley sentenced him in January 2016 to 90 days in the county’s Intermediate Punishment Program, which often involves house arrest and electronic monitoring.
The Allegheny County Public Defender’s Office, which represents Migliori, declined to comment Tuesday.
Justin Vellucci is a TribLive reporter covering crime and public safety in Pittsburgh and Allegheny County. A longtime freelance journalist and former reporter for the Asbury Park (N.J.) Press, he worked as a general assignment reporter at the Trib from 2006 to 2009 and returned in 2022. He can be reached at jvellucci@triblive.com.
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