Homicide charges filed against UPMC doctor accused of causing wreck that killed fellow physician

Police accused an emergency room doctor of being drunk while driving nearly 130 mph in July when he lost control of his Tesla and crashed, killing the physician who was his passenger.

Joseph Henry Yanta, 38, of the 2000 block of Reis Run Road in Franklin Park was charged by Northern Regional Police with two felony counts: homicide by vehicle, and homicide by vehicle while driving intoxicated. He also faces counts of involuntary manslaughter, reckless endangerment, DUI, with a blood alcohol level higher than 0.16%, driving 93 mph over the speed limit and reckless driving.

Yanta is a medical toxicologist and emergency physician for UPMC, according to his profile. Yanta was being detained in the Allegheny County Jail after a judge denied bail during his arraignment early Thursday morning, according to court records. He faces a preliminary hearing in municipal court in Downtown Pittsburgh on Nov. 18.

Yanta was charged in connection with the July 16 death of Dr. Douglas D. Rockacy, 47, who worked as an emergency medicine physician at UPMC Mercy Hospital, Uptown.

Police wrote in a criminal complaint that after a July 15 golf outing, Yanta, Rockacy and two other men went to a pizza restaurant along Route 19 in Pine Township at about 9 p.m.

Police said security video from the restaurant showed that Yanta had six drinks before leaving shortly after 12:30 a.m.

Video from a traffic camera at Church Road and Route 910 shows Yanta behind the wheel of a blue, 2020 Tesla Model 3 that was stopped at a traffic light before it turns onto Route 910 and then accelerates until it drives out of sight, the complaint said.

About 5 seconds later, Allegheny County 911 received a report of a crash in the area, the complaint said.

Responding officers said they found the Tesla on its roof in a small creek. Emergency medical technicians where already tending to Rockacy, who was ejected from the car and was suffering from cardiac arrest, the complaint said.

He was dead at the scene. He died from blunt force trauma to the head, neck, trunk and extremities, according to the results of an autopsy; his death was ruled accidental.

Police said Rockacy was not wearing a seat belt.

Investigators said Yanta was alert after the crash and told them that he was driving the Tesla. He was taken to UPMC Presbyterian hospital in Oakland where he was treated for injuries to his neck, shoulder and chest caused by the seat belt during the wreck, the complaint said.

Blood was drawn from Yanta at the hospital and was tested to determine the percentage of alcohol in his bloodstream. Police said the test showed he had a blood-alcohol level of 0.17%. A driver is considered drunk in Pennsylvania if their blood alcohol content is 0.08% or higher.

Police said they were able to retrieve data from the Tesla that showed the vehicle was traveling between 124.9 mph and 126. 5 mph just before the crash.

The speed limit along the road is posted at 35 mph.

Police said there does not appear to have been any mechanical problems with the car prior to the wreck that would have caused Yanta to lose control.

Yanta did not have a lawyer listed in court records.