Police Blotter: Officers Cite Overweight Trucks For Violations

Police stopped a truck hauling sand on May 6 at the intersection of Beaver and Locust streets on suspicion of a violation of overweight restrictions.

Police said James Miller, 50, of West Middlesex, Mercer County, was driving a tractor-trailer truck owned by Portersville-based McClymonds Supply & Transit Co.

Police put the truck on Leetsdale's truck scale and  determined that the tractor-trailer weighed 72,950 pounds, nearly 53,000 pounds more than the road's 20,000-pound maximum. 

Miller was cited with a $15,355 fine for failing to obey restrictions on posted roads and bridges.

On May 12, police stopped a truck driven by Mike Hilliard, 39, of Boyers, Somerset County. The dump truck, owned by Joseph Gargiulo of Volant, was in the 100 block of Beaver Street carrying a 28,150-pound load of flat stone slabs into Edgeworth, police said.

Police said the maximum roadway weight was 20,000 pounds. Hilliard was cited for disobeying roadway restrictions; the amount of the fine was unavailable from police. 

Sewickley Police also responded to the following incidents. Each incident reflects police records and is not an indication of guilt:

Dead deer reported

Police received a call shortly after 4 a.m. May 13 about a possible dead deer on the side of Route 65 near Chestnut Street. When police arrived, the deer was gone.

Drunken-driving incident

Police were called May 12 to a parking lot in Haysville off Ohio River Boulevard, where a Cadillac Escalade with deployed airbags had stopped but hadn't been involved in a crash.

Officers said they found the vehicle with a blown-out back tire, a damaged front rim and deployed side airbags. The driver, Jennie M. Miller, 39, of Coraopolis, admitted that she had been drinking earlier in the evening, police said. Officers said they took her to to have blood drawn and tested after she failed a field-sobriety test.

 Driving under suspension

A man on a bicycle was nearly struck by a car May 9 after a truck sideswiped a car on Route 65.

The incident occurred about 2 p.m. in the 500 block when a truck driven by Leon Norman, 46, attempted to change lanes and sideswiped a car driven by Jennifer Mcbeth, 28, of Pittsburgh, police said. McBeth’s car veered to the right, hitting a curb and some hedges and nearly striking John Conners, 58, of Sewickley, who was on his bike at the corner of Route 65 and Chestnut Street. Police said Conners saw the car headed straight for him and jumped off the corner into traffic on 65. McBeth was charged with driving while her license was suspended.

Bullet casings reported

Police were called May 19 to the boat launch at Chestnut and Chadwick streets after a passerby found bullet casings there. A man who visits the river every night found four .25-caliber casings, which he gave to officers, police said. While checking the area, police said they also noticed bullet holes in metal signs at the boat dock.

Two-car crash

 No one was injured following a two-car crash May 17 on Blackburn Road at Centennial Avenue, police said.

Police said Judy Morrison, 72, of Sewickley, stopped her car at the intersection, then proceeded through it. An approaching car driven by Cindy Vila-Kaye, 54, of Leetsdale, passed in front of Morrison’s car, and the cars collided, police said.

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Clarification: An incomplete sentence about drunken-driving appeared at the end of this report and was unrelated to the police blotter, particularly the car crash involving Morrison or Vila-Kaye. Patch strives for accuracy and regrets the editing error.