Category: News || By Jason Togyer

Pleasant Hills police have finally identified the driver whose pickup truck collided with members of a wedding party in a construction zone on Route 51.

He is Adam J. Mains, 20, of West Elizabeth.

(Editor's Note: Court records indicate that Mains apparently was driving without a license. See the update, posted below this story.)

The identification --- which was sent by U.S. Mail to Tube City Almanac on Monday, more than a week after the June 11 crash --- came after Tube City Community Media Inc. filed a state Right-to-Know Act request with Pleasant Hills borough officials.

. . .

Tube City Almanac does not routinely cover events in Pleasant Hills. The Right-to-Know Act request was filed Friday after South Park-based blogger Kevin Barkes reported that Pleasant Hills police were not releasing the name of the driver of the pickup truck.

The Almanac first requested the names on June 16 in an email to Pleasant Hills Mayor Warren Bourgeois.

Bourgeois did not reply. Instead, the Almanac was told to file the Right-to-Know Act request.

The state's Office of Open Records has repeatedly ruled that names of drivers involved in accidents are considered public information and subject to disclosure by police.

The accident remains under investigation and no charges had been filed as of Tuesday morning, court personnel told the Almanac.

. . .

According to published reports, a pickup truck --- whose driver has now been identified as Mains --- was headed south on the night of June 11 when it collided with a northbound car driven by Daniel R. Gump of South Park.

The accident happened the day before Gump's sister, Dana, was to be married. Gump was attempting to pull into the parking lot of the Primanti Brothers' restaurant on Route 51, where the wedding rehearsal dinner was being held.

Passengers in Gump's car included his girlfriend, mother and stepfather, according to various published reports. Gump's sister, Dana, and her fiancee, Jason Kirschner, had already arrived at the restaurant.

. . .

Route 51 is restricted to one lane in each direction north of Lewis Run Road during a $3.6 million paving project expected to last through late October, and two lanes of traffic must merge just south of East Bruceton Road.

Witnesses told police that the pickup truck was traveling at a high rate of speed in the curb lane, and was apparently attempting to pass a line of vehicles that was stopped at the merge point.

Seven people were hurt and six were reportedly taken to area hospitals, including the bride's mother, whose injuries were described as critical.

. . .

Because of the nature of the accident, which forced Kirschner and Gump's wedding to be postponed, the crash was widely reported by Pittsburgh's TV stations, the Post-Gazette, Tribune-Review and Daily News.

None of those reports identified the driver of the truck.

"The withholding by authorities of the identity of the person responsible for this horrendous incident is a valid story in itself," Barkes, a former editor of the Homestead Daily Messenger, wrote last week.

"Why have the police not released the driver's name?" he asked. "Is the driver politically connected, or related to someone who is?"

. . .

According to Barkes, the state's Right-to-Know Law, passed in 2008, is routinely abused by local police.

"When did the police decide they would determine what constitutes news?" Barkes asked. "And why is the media, including the P-G, not shouting this disturbing development from their front pages and 'breaking news' chyrons?"

The Almanac filed the Right-to-Know Act request on Friday only after learning that no other media outlets had done so.

. . .

Update: Allegheny County court records indicate that Mains is currently awaiting a June 30 hearing before Magisterial District Judge Beth S. Mills of Elizabeth Township on charges of trespass by motor vehicle and operating a vehicle without a license.

Those charges were filed by Elizabeth Borough police over an incident that occurred in May in neighboring West Elizabeth, court records state.

In 2009, Mains was cited for traffic offenses four times by four different police departments --- Baldwin, Brentwood, Jefferson Hills and Lincoln boroughs --- according to Allegheny County court records. Offenses included speeding, careless driving, not using turn signals and allowing a passenger to ride unsecured in the bed of his truck.

Jefferson Hills police also cited him for operating a motor vehicle with alcohol in his system. Drivers under the age of 21 may not use alcohol under any circumstances.

Mains pleaded guilty and paid fines in each case.

(Hat tip to an anonymous Tube City Almanac reader.)

You are previewing your comment. Be sure to click on 'Post Comment' to store it.