Fatal Sewickley Township Accident Allegedly Caused By Driver Without License
SEWICKLEY TOWNSHIP, Pa. (KDKA) - A young man was killed in an accident that, according to investigators, shouldn't have happened.
Grady Hoffman, 14, was very active in his fire department.
Valerie Lash wishes she could erase what she witnessed in her own front yard along Mars Hill Road.
"It was a devastating day. It's a day I'll never ever forget," Lash says.
Grady Hoffman was killed when the pickup he was a passenger in crashed.
The impact so intense the Ford Ranger he was in was cut in half when it struck a telephone pole.
"I was coming out to go to work and I see this young boy laying in my yard," Lash says.
State police say the driver of the truck 19-year-old Ryan Peters of West Newton tried to overtake and pass another vehicle.
Peter crossed the double yellow line, clipped the car he tried to pass and lost control.
Ryan Peter's suffered a back injury.
A third passenger in the truck was also injured.
The motorist in the other vehicle involved was not hurt.
This accident: not the first near here.
"They just zip past you if you're going the speed limit," Lash says.
"They pass you up they don't care."
Grady Hoffman was a cadet firefighter at Hutchinson Fire Department.
Today the teen's turnout gear and boots sit in front of the department as a memorial. A sign nearby commemorates the young man as well.
The investigation continues.
Last reported to be still in the hospital, Ryan Peters allegedly told those coming to help him that he didn't have a driver's license and "was going to go to jail."
Grady Hoffman's funeral arrangements are underway and there's been a GoFundMe page set up as well.
