3 injured in Rt. 308 collision
CENTER TWP — Two people were flown by medical helicopters to Pittsburgh hospitals with injuries after a suspected drugged driving crash Wednesday morning in the township, authorities said. A third person also was injured in the wreck.
State police are investigating the collision that took place shortly before 10 a.m. at Route 308 and Jamisonville Road, but an accident report was not immediately available. The names of the drivers and a passenger in one of the cars were not released.
All of the injured were conscious and talking after the wreck, police and emergency crews said.
Police said they believe the crash occurred when a Slippery Rock woman in her early 30s ran a stop sign at Jamisonville Road. Her Cadillac DeVille collided with a Cadillac CTS that was traveling south on Route 308.
Citing the “initial investigation of the crime scene,” troopers also suspect the woman may have been under the influence of drugs. They did not elaborate.
A passenger in the CTS, a man, was ejected from the car. Police believe he was thrown out of the passenger side door.
Witnesses and emergency crews said they found him lying face down on the grass behind the car, which ended up just off the road near the intersection.
The DeVille ended up in the driveway of Alan Aliskovitz's home on Route 308. He was on his computer in his house when he heard the crash.
“It was an extremely loud bang,” Aliskovitz said, “like somebody hit a wall.”
Nearby at his home at the corner of Jamisonville Road and Route 308, Walter McDonald was in the garage. He also heard the crash.
“I thought (a neighbor's) house blew up,” he said of the noise from the crash. “I've lived here for a lot of years; I never heard anything so loud in my life. I thought it was an explosion.”
He also noted what he didn't hear moments before the collision.
“I didn't hear any tires, no sliding, no nothing,” McDonald said. “No horn blowing, nothing.”
He left the garage, but did not get too close to the crash scene. He said he could see a man lying on the ground. McDonald said he also heard someone crying.
Aliskovitz went out of his house to inspect the wreck. He remembered hearing someone ask him to call 911. He did.
He described seeing the woman in the driver's seat of her DeVille in his driveway. She was trapped inside and her whole face was bloodied.
“She was crying for help,” Aliskovitz said. “She was saying, 'Help me. Help me, please.' She wanted out of the vehicle.”
Unionville volunteer firefighters used a hydraulic tool to remove the driver's side door while rescuing the woman.
The other driver, Aliskovitz said, was walking around, until a first responder advised him to sit down due to his injuries.
The injured passenger “looked bad,” Aliskovitz said, describing blood from the man's head dripping down his face.
Firefighters helped land a pair of helicopters — one a STAT MedEvac and the other a LifeFlight — on Aliskovitz's expansive property.
The woman and the other driver's passenger were flown to different hospitals in Pittsburgh. The other driver was taken to Butler Memorial Hospital by Butler Ambulance Service. The extent of their injuries and their conditions was not known.
The crash reduced traffic to one lane. Both cars were totaled and had to be towed. West Sunbury volunteer firefighters also assisted at the scene.
