Trial begins for Upper St. Clair driver in deadly crash
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David Rizzo Jr. -
Tara Schulz -
Derek Phillips
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Trial began Monday for an Upper St. Clair man charged with homicide by vehicle in the deaths of three people in a crash nearly two years ago on the Parkway West.
Ryan Safka, 20, also is charged with three counts each of involuntary manslaughter in the deaths of David Rizzo Jr., 20, Tara Schulz, 18, and Derek Phillips, 20, all of Upper St. Clair. They were all backseat passengers in Mr. Safka's 2007 Dodge Caliber hatchback.
He was driving on the Parkway West just before 2 a.m. on Feb. 21, 2010, when the vehicle crashed.
According to police, Mr. Safka failed to negotiate a left curve in the road, struck a jersey barrier and went airborne, sheering off the tops of several trees before coming to rest 50 feet south of the roadway.
Mr. Safka and his front-seat passenger, Brendon Johnson, survived the crash.
Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Mark Kern testified Monday that an electronic data recorder inside the vehicle, which is triggered when the air bags deploy, showed the Caliber was traveling at 106 mph five seconds before the air bags inflated.
Defense attorney Daniel Hargrove contended during cross-examination that the information from the vehicle is inaccurate. During questioning of Trooper Kern, Mr. Hargrove insinuated that the 106-mph reading was because of the wheels of the vehicle spinning unencumbered as it flew through the air.
However, the accident investigator said the reading occurred before the vehicle's air bags deployed -- when, he believes, the car struck the jersey barrier -- and therefore was still on the ground.
Mr. Hargrove also raised the issue of two vehicle recalls for Mr. Safka's car. Both of them involved braking problems, but Trooper Kern testified that he didn't check to see if the repairs had been made to the Caliber, nor did he believe they were involved in the crash.
The defense contends, too, that there may have been black ice on the roadway that could have led to the crash.
Trooper Kern, who arrived at the accident scene about an hour after the crash, said he saw no evidence of that.
"I remember it being dry -- clear of snow," he said.
The nonjury trial before Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey A. Manning resumes today, and Mr. Johnson is expected to testify.
First Published February 7, 2012 12:00 am
