A 72-year-old Scottdale man accused of texting on a cellphone minutes before the 43,500-pound crane truck he was driving crashed into three other vehicles on Route 910 in Pine, killing a Sewickley man, reached a plea deal Monday.
Charles Hunter will be on house arrest and probation for causing the man’s death, according to the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office.
Hunter was traveling between 53 and 57 mph in a 35 mph speed zone at about 2:45 p.m. March 12, 2018, when he lost control of the crane truck at a bend in the road. The truck hit a tractor-trailer and two pickup trucks that were traveling in the opposite direction, according to the criminal complaint filed against him.
Jay Watts, 54, of Sewickley, died at the scene. Watts was driving a Toyota Tacoma pickup, according to the complaint.
Hunter was texting in the minutes prior to the crash but was not actively texting during it, according to the complaint.
He pleaded guilty to single counts of involuntary manslaughter and recklessly endangering. In exchange for the plea, prosecutors withdrew a charge of homicide by vehicle.
Allegheny County Judge Randal Todd sentenced Hunter to two years house arrest and five years probation, with the probation term starting at the same time as the house arrest, according to the DA’s office.
