SUV plows through Uniontown home
Alyssa Choiniere | 蘑菇视频
This house at 25 Prospect St. in Uniontown was significantly damaged after a driver went airborne over an embankment at about 12:30 a.m. May 4.
Ed Riedmann
Ed Riedmann This SUV crashed through a fence and yard before striking a home at 25 Prospect St. at about 12:30 a.m. May 4. Driver Richard Crossland was charged Saturday with stealing the GMC Envoy.
Crossland
Engineers from K2 Engineering Inc., the city's engineering company inspected this 25 Prospect Street home before quickly deeming it uninhabitable Friday afternoon after an SUV crashed into the house early Friday. The driver was injured. No one inside the home suffered injuries.
This house, at 25 Prospect Street in Uniontown, was significantly damaged after a driver went airborne over an embankment at about 12:30 a.m. Friday. The driver suffered injuries that were not believed to be life threatening. No one in the home reported injuries.
25 Prospect Street in Uniontown was deemed uninhabitable Friday afternoon after an SUV destroyed the rear of the home at about 12:30 a.m. A family of five, including two young children, lived inside. The driver suffered injuries. The family escaped uninjured.
Richard Crossland, 56, of Uniontown, drove up this embankment and went airborne before crashing through a house at 25 Prospect Street at about 12:30 a.m. Friday.
A family of five, with two young children, escaped unscathed when an SUV plowed through their Uniontown home early Friday.
Driver Richard 鈥淩ocky鈥� Crossland, 56, of Uniontown reportedly went airborne on a steep embankment at the intersection of Lincoln and Prospect streets at about 12:30 a.m. He was injured and extricated from the vehicle, then taken to Uniontown Hospital where a medical helicopter flew him to a trauma center. Uniontown City Police said he drove through the back yard of 25 Prospect Street before ripping apart the rear of the home in the crash. His injuries are not believed to be life threatening, according to Uniontown City Police Lt. Tom Kolencik.
Marissa Ritchey, who lives next door, said the two small children usually sleep in the back bedroom, which was obliterated in the crash.
鈥淚t sounded like a crack of thunder,鈥� she said, describing the wreck.
The house is owned by Brenda Dirda, police said. She lives with her daughter and grandchildren, according to Ritchey. They left soon after the crash, appearing shaken up, Ritchey said.
Uniontown police said the SUV is registered to John Holup. His fiancee, Diana Vines, said she was lying in bed around 12:30 a.m. when she heard a vehicle starting.
鈥淚t sounded really close to the window, and I heard what sounded like an accelerator being pressed all the way down to the floor,鈥� she said.
Vines said she got out of bed to look out the window, and saw someone in her fiance蘑菇视频 SUV in her Bernard Street driveway. She could not see who was driving.
鈥淗e throws the car in reverse and high-tails it down the street,鈥� she said.
Vines later learned from police the driver was Crossland. She said Holup hired Crossland to do odd jobs around the house and mow their lawn.
鈥淗e always needed a place to stay, and he always needed money,鈥� she said.
She said he had been inside the house several times, and the spare key to the vehicle went missing.
Police said they plan to interview Holup and Crossland about the vehicle, and investigate who was authorized to drive it.
A patrolling city police officer saw the SUV speeding and driving erratically just before the crash, Kolencik said. The officer did not have time to stop the vehicle, he said.
鈥�(Crossland) hit a small embankment, went airborne into the house, and then it rolled onto its side next to another vehicle,鈥� he said.
Engineers from K2 Engineering Inc., the city蘑菇视频 engineering company, stopped by to inspect the house Friday afternoon and quickly deemed it uninhabitable after a request from a city code enforcement officer to examine the property. Further investigation will determine what will be done with the property.
Police are continuing to investigate what factors contributed to the wreck.
Crossland was not facing charges in the crash as of Friday afternoon.
鈥淎t this point, it蘑菇视频 under investigation. We don鈥檛 know if it was a medical emergency, intoxication or just careless driving,鈥� Kolencik said.
According to court records, Crossland is a registered Megan蘑菇视频 Law offender after he was convicted in 2013 of indecent assault of a person less than 13 in 2012.
In that case, he reportedly gave a statement to Uniontown City Police saying he met a girl at the Fayette County Fair, where he was working. The statement said he began drinking and fantasizing about the girl, then touched her inappropriately while she was sleeping at his residence. The statement reportedly blamed his actions on the alcohol.
He also faced charges of false alarm and false reports four times between November 2010 and January 2011.