Woman accused of being drunk when she crashed into New Kensington hotel that caught fire

Police accuse a woman of being drunk when she crashed into a New Kensington hotel early Sunday, which caught the building on fire when her car sheared a natural gas line, authorities say.

Jaden Saje Price, 27, of the 2600 block of Chestnut Street, Lower Burrell, was charged with driving under the influence, reckless endangerment and careless driving in the Feb. 20 incident at the Quality Inn along Tarentum Bridge Road.

She faces a preliminary hearing before District Judge Frank J. Pallone Jr. on March 24.

After the wreck, New Kensington fire Chief Ed Saliba Jr. told the Tribune-Review that quick action by firefighters prevented the blaze from spreading and causing a disaster.

The fire, which was reported about 2:10 a.m., was limited to the exterior corner of the western side of the building that houses the grand ballroom.

Firefighters were able to keep flames from entering the ballroom, the chief said, but there was interior damage caused by smoke in that room and the lobby.

Price was not hurt in the wreck, and there were no injuries reported at the hotel. A male passenger in Price’s car was treated at the scene for a head injury before being transported to Allegheny Valley Hospital in Harrison by ambulance.

An officer who responded to the scene said Price refused to give her name and told him, “I want to go home, and I want an attorney,” the complaint said.

Price was taken into custody on suspicion of driving while intoxicated after refusing to allow blood to be drawn to determine her blood-alcohol level or the presence of narcotics in her system, police said.

She was released from a cell at the New Kensington police station into the custody of her father.

A family member at the home listed on the vehicle’s registration identified Price as the driver, according to police.

Investigators said the passenger in Price’s car provided them with a written statement telling them he met Price at the hotel bar the night of the crash and they “both were drinking heavily,” the complaint said.

He told them they got into Price’s car to go to her home after the bar closed but first stopped at his truck, which was in the hotel parking lot, to pick up a case of beer.

He told police, as they drove off to go home, Price was driving “recklessly and carelessly” and nearly hit a parked vehicle in the lot before crashing into the building.