Monroeville man killed in crash on I-79 berm
A driver was killed and his passenger seriously injured in a three-vehicle crash early Wednesday on a berm along Interstate 79, state police said.
Travis Brown, 37, of Monroeville was driving a Ford Explorer northbound on I-79 in South Fayette around 3:15 a.m. when his SUV hit a vehicle stopped on the highway’s right berm, police said.
State police did not identify the type of vehicle Brown crashed into, but TribLive news partner WTAE said it was a tractor-trailer.
The Explorer then spun and hit a second tractor-trailer stopped along the highway, according to a police report and WTAE.
Police said Brown died at the scene.
Carlie Olwell, 28, of New Kensington, a passenger in Brown’s vehicle, suffered serious injuries, police said. She was taken to UPMC Mercy hospital.
The three people associated with the vehicles stopped on the side of the highway were not injured. They were all from Ontario, Canada, according to police.
It is unclear if Brown or Olwell were wearing seat belts. Pennsylvania State Police did not respond to phone calls Wednesday seeking comment.
Trooper Marshall Fillmore, who investigated the crash, cited “driving on roadways laned for traffic” as a primary violation on the police report.
The crash took place near mile marker 50.1, police said. There is a rest area exit at mile marker 50, near the border between Allegheny and Washington counties.
Justin Vellucci is a TribLive reporter covering crime and public safety in Pittsburgh and Allegheny County. A longtime freelance journalist and former reporter for the Asbury Park (N.J.) Press, he worked as a general assignment reporter at the Trib from 2006 to 2009 and returned in 2022. He can be reached at jvellucci@triblive.com.
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