Woman's death ends crash probe

The Patriot News ^ | 11/3/2005 | FRANK COZZOLI AND MATT MILLER

[Born Conservative]

A 74-year-old woman who state police said caused a fatal crash on Route 581 this summer died last month as a result of cancer.

Investigators had sufficient evidence to arrest Joyce G. Case of Upper Allen Twp., probably on a homicide by vehicle charge, in the late July crash that killed Carlisle truck driver Kenny Wallace, 43, Cumberland County District Attorney Skip Ebert said yesterday.

The probe ended with Case's death, however, because the dead cannot be prosecuted.

"We consider the matter closed," Ebert said. "It's a bad situation all around."

Ebert said investigators didn't know Case had terminal cancer until she died Oct. 17. When they last talked to her Oct. 8, Case indicated "she was remorseful" and sympathetic to Wallace's grieving family, Ebert said.

State police said that about 7 a.m. July 28, Case passed two other vehicles on the ramp from northbound Route 15 onto westbound Route 581, pulling into the path of Wallace's rig.

Troopers said Wallace tried to avoid a collision but sideswiped Case's white Buick Century. His rig jackknifed and pushed Case's car into the side of a delivery truck, one of two vehicles stopped on the ramp.

Troopers said the tractor portion of Wallace's rig struck the concrete barrier at the base of the Route 15 overpass and caught fire. The trailer also hit the barrier and broke in half.

Case told investigators she was headed to work at Softrac America Inc. in Hagerstown, Md., where she had worked five years, Ebert said.

The probe determined that Wallace was not at fault for the accident, Ebert said. He said Wallace's family has been notified of Case's death.

"They felt pity for this woman, too, when they found out what happened," he said. "But again, they miss their loved one."

It would have been "highly unlikely" that, if convicted, Case would have gone to prison, Ebert said. She had no criminal record, not even a speeding ticket, he said.

Ebert said the "overwhelming" traffic volume at the junction of routes 15 and 581 probably played a role in the accident. The state Department of Transportation has conceded the ramp is one of the more difficult ones in the midstate.

Motorists trying to merge have little room to accelerate before coming face-to-face with a concrete barrier at the bridge that carries Route 15 over the highway.

The ramp will be eliminated as part of an $81 million project to revamp the interchange and widen Route 15.

PennDOT has added "Heavy merge area" signs in the westbound lanes approaching the interchange. A "No merge area" sign will be placed at the on-ramp where the crash occurred.

[calex59]

Well that's interesting, the dead can vote but can't be prosecuted. I wonder if she was a democrat? Maybe republicans can be prosecuted after they are dead.