TM(Advertisement)
Tube City Community Media Inc. is seeking freelance writers to help cover city council, news and feature stories in McKeesport, Duquesne, White Oak and the neighboring communities. High school and college students seeking work experience are encouraged to apply; we are willing to work with students who need credit toward class assignments. Please send cover letter, resume, two writing samples and the name of a reference (an employer, supervisor, teacher, etc. -- not a relative) to tubecitytiger@gmail.com.
Ads start at $1 per day, minimum seven days.
Two Face Trial in Fatal School Bus Crash
One driver remains jailed; other free on $150,000 bond
By Staff Reports
The Tube City Almanac
January 28, 2024
Posted in: Crime and Police News
Two men accused of racing one another across the Mansfield Bridge before a fatal school-bus crash will face trial on all of the charges.
At a preliminary hearing Friday before Magisterial District Judge Katherine P. Lovelace in Pittsburgh’s Highland Park neighborhood, William R. Soliday II, 43, of Irwin, and Andrew N. Voigt, 37, of Penn Hills, were ordered held for court in connection with the Sept. 20 death of Samantha Kalkbrenner, a sophomore at Serra Catholic High School, and injuries suffered by four other people on the bus, including the driver.
Formal arraignment has been scheduled for Feb. 26 in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court.
Soliday is currently being held without bond on homicide and related charges in Allegheny County Jail. Voigt is free on $150,000 cash bond.
According to court documents, both men work at nearby Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory. Allegheny County police allege that the two were racing one another on the morning of Sept. 20 when Soliday’s high-performance Volkswagen Jetta GLI slammed into the school bus in which Kalkbrenner and three classmates were riding.
Police allege that Soliday’s car was traveling at 107 mph just before the crash at the intersection of Third Street and Richland Avenue in Dravosburg.
At Friday’s hearing, witnesses testified that both Soliday’s car and Voigt’s Jeep Trackhawk had been seen traveling at a high-rate of speed — “chasing one another” or “racing,” according to witnesses — across the Mansfield Bridge before the fatal accident on Richland Avenue.
Footage of the accident, captured by a dash-cam on the bus, was shown during the hearing.
Kalkbrenner and two other students were ejected from the van, police said. One of the students suffered a fractured collar bone and burns, while another suffered a spinal fracture and a concussion, police said.
Bus driver Richard Maleski suffered a broken sternum, contusions and abrasions, police said.
Soliday is charged by Allegheny County police with homicide, homicide by vehicle, recklessly endangering another person, aggravated assault by vehicle, racing on highways, careless driving, reckless driving and exceeding the speed limit by 78 mph.
Voigt is charged by county police with causing an accident involving death or personal injury, leaving the scene of an accident, recklessly endangering other persons, driving at unsafe speeds, racing on highways, careless driving, reckless driving, and exceeding the speed limit by 65 mph.
All charges were ordered held for court by Lovelace.
Originally published January 28, 2024.
In other news:
"EA Board Proposes Tax…" || "Two Hurt in Mansfield…"