A man is headed to trial on charges that he was drunk in October when he drove his SUV into oncoming Parkway West traffic and struck a second vehicle before both cars burst into flames.
Tristan Michael Larson, 23, of Moon on Tuesday waived his preliminary hearing on two DUI counts, one count each of aggravated assault by vehicle and aggravated assault by vehicle while DUI, and two driving summonses.
He is set to appear in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court in April, court records show. Attorney Robert Del Greco Jr., who represents Larson, did not return phone calls seeking comment.
Police said Larson’s blood-alcohol level was 0.133% — nearly twice the legal limit — around 6 a.m. Oct. 11, when he drove his silver Toyota SUV into I-376’s westbound lanes.
The motorist whom Larson hit, whose full name was not provided in the criminal complaint, told Pennsylvania State Police he was driving eastbound near Robinson when he saw headlights “coming directly at him.”
The driver swerved to the right to avoid the highway’s concrete median, the criminal complaint said. Instead, the two cars collided.
Larson also struck a third vehicle on its driver’s side, the complaint said.
The fiery crash occurred on the inbound side of the highway, between the Summit Park Drive bridge and the interchange for Routes 22/30 and 60, first responders said at the time of the crash.
An emergency dispatcher driving home from an overnight shift freed the two crash victims from the wreckage.
Joined by other 911 personnel and at least one good-Samaritan motorist, the dispatcher smashed one crashed car’s windows with a tire iron and claw hammer, then struggled to free one of the drivers from a tangled seat belt.
A tow-truck driver soon arrived on scene — and proved essential to the rescue, the dispatcher told TribLive. The driver’s pen-knife helped slice through a seat belt and free one of the drivers. Ambulances and fire trucks arrived moments later.
First responders rushed both Larson and the driver to Allegheny General Hospital. The third driver was not hospitalized.
It is unclear if Larson was injured. He told police that morning “he had multiple mixed drinks of whatever he could get his hands on,” the complaint said.
Police said the crash broke the unnamed driver’s sternum, four of his ribs and his right heel. He injured his left shoulder and broke his right arm in four places.
The complaint said the driver has undergone at least four surgeries to address the injuries.
At least three other drivers swerved away from Larson as he drove his SUV into oncoming traffic that Saturday morning, the complaint said.
One said, after they swerved to avoid a collision, Larson’s vehicle “did not maneuver at all and continued going straight in the left lane, in the wrong direction,” the complaint said.
Each also told police they swerved after seeing headlights coming at them. At least two of the drivers told police they called 911.