Police have charged the driver they say caused a wrong-way, head-on collision that killed two people Sunday evening on the Parkway East near Downtown Pittsburgh.
Pedro Olan Morales, 56, from Charlotte, N.C., has been charged with aggravated assault by vehicle, involuntary manslaughter, recklessly endangering another person, accidents involving injury or death while not licensed and traffic violations in connection with the crash, Pennsylvania State Police said. He is confined to Allegheny County Jail with bail denied.
Morales was in a gray 2010 Chevy Silverado with Ohio license plates near the Allegheny County Jail about 7:30 p.m. when his vehicle struck a westbound Nissan Frontier, killing the driver and her passenger. Police said the Silverado was “traveling eastbound in westbound lanes” of Interstate 376 when the crash occurred near mile marker 71.
According to the criminal complaint, police and EMT personnel saw alcoholic beverages in his vehicle, and Morales had a “strong odor of alcoholic beverage on his breath.”
The driver of the Nissan was identified by the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office as Shannon Morrow, 52, of Mt. Lebanon.
Her passenger was Sharon Orlofske, 77, of Monroeville, who died at a hospital a short time after the crash. Orlofske was the mother of Morrow’s boyfriend, according to Trooper Rocco Gagliardi.
The boyfriend, whom police did not name, was driving ahead of Morrow in a separate vehicle. He swerved to avoid the oncoming Silverado and witnessed the crash that killed his mother and girlfriend, according to Gagliardi.
Morales was taken to an area hospital, where police observed alcohol on his breath. Blood specimens were taken, and lab results are pending.
Additional charges might be filed against Morales based on lab results, Gagliardi said.
According to the complaint, Morales spoke only Spanish and communicated with police through an interpreter. He told police he was alone in the vehicle and he did not remember the crash. He “then related that he had two beers before driving” and did not know his local address “as he had just moved to Coraopolis.”
Authorities will review video to determine what exactly happened, but Gagliardi said he did not believe the vehicle was on the wrong side of the highway for long.
Just last week, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation announced a $4.8 million safety detection project to thwart wrong-way crashes along Route 28.
Flashing lights and other technology will be installed at 21 ramps along the expressway — a stretch where 30 wrong-way crashes were recorded from 2019-23, according to PennDOT officials.