State police: Trooper at fault in fatal Ligonier crash
The state police trooper killed July 14 while driving a police sport utility vehicle along Route 711 in Ligonier Township was at fault for the early morning collision with a garbage truck, state police said Friday.
Trooper Michael P. Stewart III of Unity, died in the crash and his passenger, Trooper Travis November, continues to recover from injuries sustained in the crash, police said.
The investigation “determined that the marked State Police patrol unit was the at-fault vehicle,” according to a release from Greensburg-based state police.
Investigators said a number of factors played a role in the crash, including the police car's speed, the sight distance of the roadway and environmental factors that included a wet roadway and fog.
State police said the two troopers were travelling southbound in a marked police vehicle when it collided with the driver's side of a garbage truck at 2:20 a.m.
That garbage truck owned by McInchok Sanitation in Ligonier, was making a left turn out of a parking lot to head north on Route 711 when the accident occurred.
Both officers were wearing seat belts at the time of the crash, police said.
State police said Friday there would be no additional comment on the investigation.
A spokesman for McInchok Sanitation declined to comment Friday evening.
Trooper November could not be reached for comment.
Jim Stewart, a spokesman for the Stewart family, declined to comment Friday, saying they have not seen the police report on the accident.
Joe Napsha is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 724-836-5252 or jnapsha@tribweb.com.
