Woman charged with homicide by vehicle arraigned
A Beaver County woman accused of driving under the influence and killing a 65-year-old Butler Eagle pressman in a May crash on Route 422 was placed on unsecured bond Thursday.
Kassandra M. Clyde, 25, of Fombell, appeared before District Judge Joseph Nash in Slippery Rock for her preliminary arraignment on charges connected to the death of James Barge, of New Castle. Barge was on his way home from his job at the Butler Eagle when he suffered fatal injuries from the crash.
She was charged Monday with felonies homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence, aggravated assault by vehicle while DUI, misdemeanor DUI and summaries careless driving, failure to stay in the proper lane and disregard of a traffic lane.
On Thursday, Nash placed Clyde under an unsecured bond of $500,000. She also was placed under pretrial supervision and fitted with a Secure Continuous Remote Alcohol Monitoring unit, an ankle bracelet that monitors the wearer’s sweat for the presence of alcohol every 30 minutes.
Officials said the conditions of Clyde’s bond are that she is not allowed in any facilities or restaurants where alcohol is served.
Her preliminary hearing is scheduled for Dec. 13.
The crash occurred around 1:15 a.m. on May 4 near the intersection of Route 422 and Unionville Road in Franklin Township, near the Big Butler Fairgrounds, according to documents.
Police said Clyde was traveling east on Route 422 in a 2010 Honda CR-V when she crossed into Barge’s lane of travel, over solid yellow lines and a turning lane, before striking his 2011 Toyota Camry.
Clyde’s vehicle struck Barge’s head-on in the westbound lanes, documents said. Barge was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.
Police said Clyde’s blood alcohol content was 0.243% several hours after the crash. In Pennsylvania, the legal limit is 0.08%.
Barge was employed by the Eagle for nearly 10 years, and worked as a pressman his entire career. In addition to the Butler Eagle, he worked at the New Castle News, Youngstown Vindicator and Wall Street Journal. His family said he was two weeks away from retirement at the time of his death.
