Man pleads guilty in connection with deadly 2020 crash in downtown Bellefonte
The driver accused of killing a pedestrian in downtown Bellefonte and leaving before calling police pleaded guilty Thursday.
Brandon Deitz, 37, was charged in connection with the crash that killed Stephanie Wilson, 36, at the diamond intersection of North Allegheny and West High streets.
Deitz hit Wilson with his Dodge Ram 2500 during a morning rush hour in July 2020. He pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count of an accident involving death; felony and summary charges were dropped.
He was not accused of driving recklessly.
State police at Rockview estimated he was driving about 22 mph and wrote in an affidavit of probable cause that he stopped the pickup almost immediately. Several bandannas tied around his rearview mirror partially obstructed his view, police wrote.
No drugs or alcohol were involved.
Deitz fled because he “panicked” and was “scared and nervous,” police wrote. A woman called police on his behalf less than 10 minutes after the crash.
The plea agreement requires two years of probation, but it’s not yet clear what will precede that.
Centre County prosecutors plan to argue for three months to one year in the Centre County Correctional Facility, while Deitz’s public defender plans to argue for house arrest.
He’s scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 1.
It was the first fatal crash in the borough since 2009, and the fourth in the past two decades, according to state Department of Transportation data.
A second woman was treated for minor injuries in February after she was hit by a driver at the same intersection. The two crashes prompted Bellefonte’s decision-makers to take a closer look at the busy intersection.
A longtime traffic engineer contracted by the borough said during a November meeting the monument that splits West High Street “would never get approved today by PennDOT.”
The crash rate at the intersection during the past five years is above the statewide average for other similar intersections, something that is a “red flag,” Pennoni Associates senior engineer Jason Stimmel said.
Two new options were presented during the meeting, though Borough Council did not rule out largely maintaining the status quo.
The least expensive change would be to add extensions to the curb at the intersection and eliminate perpendicular parking spaces. The project would cost no more than $400,000.
The more expensive and safer change would be to add a roundabout, which are becoming increasingly popular in Pennsylvania, Stimmel said. Only two fatalities were reported in the past decade at roundabouts statewide, according to PennDOT data.
The project could cost upward of $850,000. Any change would need to be approved by PennDOT. Borough Council won’t make its decision any sooner than January, borough Manager Ralph Stewart said.
If the borough’s decision-makers opt for either of the more significant changes, Stewart estimated construction wouldn’t begin until spring 2023 at the earliest.