Man hit by car in South Greensburg dies; restaurant owner collects donations for reward
The owner of a South Greensburg restaurant plans to offer a reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the driver who hit an elderly man outside the establishment almost two weeks ago.
Clarence Wolff, 86, of Hempfield died Tuesday at a Pittsburgh-area hospital, according to the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Investigators have been working since April 19 to determine who was driving the car that hit Wolff on Broad Street as he left DeGennaro’s Restaurant & Lounge at 7:30 p.m. A dark gray, newer model Chevrolet Cruze was seen leaving the scene, police said.
Restaurant owner Jeanine DeGennaro has raised about $1,200 to put toward a reward through a GoFundMe page. She plans to print flyers soon and place them along Broad Street.
“I decided that I couldn’t just stand by and let this happen as a few days went by and this person did not turn himself in, so I felt that I had to do something,” she said Wednesday.
She does not know Wolff’s family personally but said they do visit the restaurant on occasion. If the funds are not needed for a reward, DeGennaro said she plans to donate the money to Wolff’s family.
Attempts by the Tribune-Review to contact Wolff’s family were unsuccessful.
“People have been giving me money everywhere I’m going and … the community just really has been rallying around the situation,” DeGennaro said. “And that’s what their No. 1 thing is — we want to see justice. We want the right thing done.”
Investigators believe the car fled onto Route 819 toward Armbrust. The car has chrome accents on the doors below the driver- and passenger-side windows, police said.
The car may have a white temporary tag in the rear window. It would have damage to the driver’s side, including the side mirror and possibly the front bumper, hood and fender, police said.
“He got his car fixed. There’s definitely damage done to the driver’s side of this car, the mirror,” DeGennaro said. “Somebody has to have seen something.”
She is asking the driver to take responsibility.
“We want to find justice, to find this person,” she said.
Anyone with information is asked to contact South Greensburg police at 724-834-2915. Funeral arrangements are being handled by Kepple-Graft Funeral Home in Greensburg.
Pedestrian deaths have been on the rise in the U.S. since 2009 following nearly 20 years of declines.
Last year across the country, more than 6,200 pedestrians died on U.S. roads. That was the highest death toll in nearly three decades. From 2008 to 2017, pedestrian deaths nationally climbed 35%, from 4,414 to 5,977, according to figures from the Governors Highway Safety Association.
Pennsylvania in the first six months of 2018 saw 90 pedestrians killed by motorists, compared to 64 during the same period in 2017. Those are the latest figures available.
Renatta Signorini is a TribLive reporter covering breaking news, crime, courts and Jeannette. She has been working at the Trib since 2005. She can be reached at rsignorini@triblive.com.
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