Woman killed in crash
BUTLER TWP — Police are puzzled over why a young Allegheny County woman was driving the wrong way on Route 8 early this morning when she was killed in a high-speed crash just past the Pickle Gate Bridge.
Investigators are also trying to determine why 22-year-old Lindsey Dickey of Gibsonia was on that stretch of road north of Hansen Avenue shortly before 3 a.m. when she lost control of her 2001 Dodge Stratus.
“We don’t know,” Township Police Chief John Hays said. “We may never know.”
Police said they were no immediate indications that alcohol or drugs were factors in the crash. However, officers did find empty beer cans in the car.
Police planned to talk with Dickey’s mother today in hopes of answering some of their questions.
Dickey lived with her mother, Hays said. The two recently moved from the Valencia area in Butler County to Gibsonia.
According to investigators, a patrol officer near the Greater Butler Mart spotted Dickey’s Dodge headed north on Route 8 in the southbound lanes.
The wrong-way car was traveling at “a very high rate of speed” and passed the marked township police cruiser. The officer was headed back to the station after finishing up a suspicious vehicle call at the Comfort Inn on Route 8 south.
“Where the bend (in the road) is, she just went straight,” Hays said.
The car hit several traffic signs before traveling up and down an embankment in the section of the township known as Bradenville. The vehicle rolled over and landed on its roof.
When the officer got to the car, the undercarriage was on fire. He used a fire extinguisher to put out the small blaze, police said.
Dickey, who was not wearing a seat belt, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Butler County Coroner William Young III said she died of “blunt force trauma” but would not elaborate. An autopsy is not planned, he said, but a toxicology screening will be done.
The South Butler Volunteer Fire Department was called to assist at the scene. Butler police also helped with traffic control.
Southbound traffic on that portion of Route 8 was closed until about 5:30 a.m.
