By Daniel Malloy
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
EVANS CITY, Pa. — An ambulance driver in a crash that killed two men last year will serve jail time after pleading guilty yesterday.
Shanea Leigh Climo, 23, of Evans City, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter as part of an agreement with prosecutors. She agreed to serve a sentence of 11 1/2 to 23 months in Allegheny County Jail, but Common Pleas Judge Randall B. Todd is not obligated to honor that plea on the sentencing date, which has not yet been scheduled.
Traveling between 64 and 68 mph on Route 19 in Marshall, she ran a red light and struck a Chevrolet Cavalier driven by Douglas Stitt, 38, of Mercer. Mr. Stitt and a passenger, Phillip Bacon, 32, of Sharpsville, Mercer County, were pronounced dead at the scene.
“We’re satisfied [with the outcome],” said Mr. Stitt’s brother Mark, 50, of Mercer. “I would have liked to have seen her go [to jail] for a longer time, but she will have to deal with it herself.”
The victims’ families said they plan to file a civil suit against Ms. Climo as well.
As she sped down the road, taking a patient to the hospital, she continuously flashed the emergency lights but did not sound the siren until 2.25 seconds before impact, according to a video recorded inside the ambulance. Mr. Stitt had a green light and was making a left turn onto Route 19 when his car was struck.
Ms. Climo had been drinking earlier that day, and her blood alcohol level was later recorded as 0.07. Deputy District Attorney Bruce Beemer offered expert testimony at Ms. Climo’s preliminary hearing that her alcohol level could be extrapolated to be above the .08 legal limit at the time of the accident.
But as part of the plea deal, prosecutors dropped the charges that Ms. Climo was driving at 0.08 or above, and she pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of driving while impaired. Prosecutors also dropped two counts of homicide by vehicle, the most severe charges.