Former Cranberry Township man sentenced to prison in fatal Beaver County crash
A former Cranberry Township man was sentenced to prison after pleading guilty to charges for killing two people in a crash while driving under the influence in June in Beaver County.
Israel Tun Cooch, 46, who now lives in Aliquippa, was sentenced last week in Beaver County Common Pleas Court to serve 14 years and four months to 36 years in state prison, pay $17,760 in restitution and $1,796 in fines.
He also was ordered to have no contact with the victims or their families, and undergo mental health and drug and alcohol evaluation and treatment.
He received credit for 265 days served.
Cooch pleaded guilty to 20 of 22 charges filed by Beaver Falls police following the June 29 crash at the intersection of 11th Street and 7th Avenue. Police said Cooch was driving a gray Dodge Ram 1500 at 84 mph in a 25 mph zone before he ran a red light at the intersection and struck a red Nissan Altima, killing two people in the car and injuring a pedestrian.
The driver of the Nissan, Robert Lance Jr., 25, was unresponsive and bleeding from the ear when he was removed from the vehicle. He died while en route to UPMC Presbyterian in Pittsburgh. The passenger, 23-year-old Sheylee Young Davis, died at the scene.
After being hit, the Altima was pushed into the sidewalk and trapped a pedestrian underneath it. The pedestrian, 48-year-old Carrie Koch, was trapped from the waist down and could not move her lower extremities after the car was lifted off her, police said.
Police found a glass Modelo beer bottle with a small amount of liquid under the driver’s seat of Cooch’s truck. He appeared to be in pain and was placed in an ambulance then flown by helicopter to UPMC Presbyterian.
Police said Cooch was not asked to submit to a field sobriety test at the scene due to his possible injuries and because the other injured people needed attention.
He pleaded guilty to two counts of homicide by vehicle while DUI, three counts of aggravated assault by vehicle while DUI, two counts of homicide by vehicle, three counts of aggravated assault by vehicle and three counts of accidents involving death or injury while not licensed, all felonies, plus two misdemeanor counts of DUI and five summary traffic violations.
