No charges expected for driver who struck a Butler trooper in Allegheny County pedestrian-vehicle crash
No charges are anticipated for a driver who struck an off-duty state trooper in a pedestrian-vehicle crash last week on the Parkway West in Allegheny County, state police said Thursday, Aug. 31.
Trooper Josh Osche, of Troop D, Butler, was hit when he stopped to assist at a crash involving a Subaru Impreza and a tow truck shortly after midnight Aug. 24. Osche was in his own vehicle when he came upon the crash, which was blocking traffic in the eastbound lanes of the Parkway West in Robinson Township, according to Thursday’s news release.
Osche stopped, put on his four-way flashers and was setting up flares when he was hit by an approaching vehicle, police said.
In an interview Wednesday, Aug. 30, Osche’s mother, Butler County Commissioner Leslie Osche, said Blair Johnson, the driver of the tow truck involved in the first crash, saved her son by pulling him out of the road.
“I keep reiterating that the tow-truck driver is the hero in the story,” Leslie Osche said Wednesday. “Had he not done that, (Josh) wouldn’t be here today.”
Police said Jakji D. Cush, 24, of Pittsburgh, caused the first crash and then fled on foot. While Johnson was assisting Josh Osche, Cush returned and drove off in the tow truck.
Cush is accused of driving the tow truck into Pittsburgh, where he crashed it on the Fort Pitt Bridge and then jumped onto a walkway to flee. He is facing multiple charges, including felony theft, misdemeanor accidents involving property damage, cruelty to animals, false report and several traffic citations.
After the crash, Josh Osche was transported to Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh for treatment of serious injuries. He is expected to be released in the coming days, state police said Thursday.
Josh Osche enlisted with the state police in December 2015, and is currently assigned to the Criminal Investigation Unit at Troop D in Butler.
Police said the driver who hit Osche cooperated with the investigation and that no charges are expected in that crash.
“PSP is not identifying the driver at this time,” said Myles Snyder, state police communications director, in a Thursday email.
