Records show school van driver had cocaine in system during crash that killed Serra Catholic student

Medical records in the case against two men accused of drag racing in a high-speed crash that killed a 15-year-old girl in Dravosburg show that the driver of the school van she was traveling in tested positive for cocaine.

Defense attorneys for William Soliday and Andrew Voigt believe that detail could provide them leverage to reach a plea agreement in the case prior to going to trial in January.

Richard A. Maleski drove the van taking Samantha Kalkbrenner, the victim, to school on Sept. 20, 2023. According to Maleski’s medical records which were turned over to the defense in discovery, he had cocaine in his urine when it was tested at the hospital that day.

The records do not show the amount of cocaine. They do indicate that Maleski told hospital staff that he was surprised he tested positive because he had not used cocaine for five days before the crash.

No charges have been filed against Maleski. He could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Casey White, the lawyer representing Soliday, believes the evidence about the cocaine in Maleski’s system should convince prosecutors to offer his client a plea.

“I hope we can keep moving forward to resolve this where Mr. Soliday accepts responsibility for his actions,” White said. “To think [Maleski’s] doing cocaine prior to operating a school bus is alarming.”

In the weeks after the crash, the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office said it would pursue a third-degree murder conviction in the case, citing both drivers’ speed.

But White said his client should not be facing a murder charge.

“My client was not acting with a disregard for human life. He did not have any maliciousness on his drive to work.”

Both White and defense attorney Kevin Chernosky, who represents Voigt, said that evidence of the van driver having cocaine in his system is relevant.

White said Maleski’s statement to the hospital about when he last used it will be important.

“His credibility is certainly going to come into question, because my understanding is cocaine wouldn’t stay in the system that long,” White said.

And Chernosky said the presence of cocaine will call into question Maleski’s actions that morning.

“It has some effect on his perception and his decision to pull out at that intersection,” Chernosky said.

As a former homicide prosecutor, Chernosky said that if the case goes to trial, the positive cocaine result will be a distraction to a jury.

Soliday, 44, of North Huntingdon is charged with criminal homicide, reckless endangerment and reckless driving stemming from the Sept. 20, 2023, crash in Dravosburg. His co-defendant, Voigt, 38, of Penn Hills, is charged with reckless endangerment, careless driving and accidents involving death.

Testimony and video played previously in court showed how the crash that day played out.

According to witnesses, Soliday, who was driving a white Volkswagen Jetta, and Voigt, in a Jeep Grand Cherokee, had been racing each other as they traveled to work that morning at the Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory in West Mifflin.

Other drivers testified that the men sped across the Mansfield Bridge, and police said that Soliday’s event data recorder — the equivalent of a black box in a car — showed that he hit a top speed of 107 mph moments before crashing into the school van. Soliday applied the brake 1.5 seconds before impact and struck the van at approximately 90 mph.

Samantha, a student at Serra Catholic High School, was killed. Three other students were injured.

Voigt, whose vehicle was not involved in the crash, left the scene, police said. He pulled over on the side of the road, he told police, “lost control of his bowels ” and vomited on himself. He then drove home, changed clothes and took a different car to work, they said.

Maleski was injured.

Wesley M. Oliver, a criminal law professor at Duquesne University, said defense attorneys could use the van driver’s positive cocaine results to lessen their clients’ culpability.

“You could possibly show if the driver had some chance to avoid the accident, that his ability was impaired, that the act of recklessness lessens and might not rise to the level of malice,” Oliver said. “The argument is: Did it make a difference?”

The defense would argue that a sober driver would have seen the racing drivers coming and not pulled into the intersection — even just pausing for a half-second, Oliver said, or looking again.

But the prosecution, he continued, will likely argue the test results aren’t relevant and that the defense can’t show causation.

“With the speed they were driving, a completely sober driver couldn’t have avoided this crash,” Oliver said.

Nenita Kalkbrenner, Samantha’s mother, said the family is praying the cocaine test results won’t impact the case.

“We’re struggling with hurt, disappointment and betrayal,” she said. “However, we’re committed to seeking accountability from those responsible.”

The DA’s office said it could not comment on the pending case but will be ready for trial on Jan. 25 before Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Bruce Beemer.