BUTLER, Pa. — A late-night crash in front of Butler Area Senior High School sent two men to the hospital Thursday, one of them flown in critical condition.
Video of the aftermath of the crash on New Castle Road was taken by Timothy Smith, who runs the Facebook pages Boofers of Butler and Bottom Shelf Butler News.
Smith was on his way home Thursday night just as the crash happened.
“I just saw something black go ahead of me,” he told Channel 11’s Andrew Havranek. “It weirded me out because I didn’t see no headlights.”
What he saw was the aftermath of the crash. A truck, police say, was driven by 28-year-old Dakota Suchonic-Thomas, flipped on its side. Smith said he got out of his car and noticed another car -- driven by 19-year-old Jack Johnson, according to police -- smashed and up on the hillside embankment.
Police said Johnson was flown to Allegheny General Hospital and is in critical condition. Suchonic-Thomas was taken by ambulance and treated for minor injuries.
“I actually started praying. I’m like, just let him make it. Let the kid make it,” Smith said. “It was really crushing me, seeing a kid. If it had been an older guy, I would’ve been hurt, but seeing a kid, that’s what really crushed me.”
Smith said when he got out of his car and noticed just how bad the crash was, his mind went to a tragedy he had lived through himself.
“My son passed away about 15 years ago and it crushed me. It totally crushed me, I’m still screwed up from it,” Smith said. “And all I kept thinking about was the parents, honestly. I kept thinking about the parents. I hope they don’t have to go through what I went through. That’s the first thing that came to my head, honestly.”
Smith said if he hadn’t been stopped by people who recognized him from his Facebook page at Walmart, he likely would have been in that accident.
“Man, you guys might have saved my life without you knowing it because I took a picture with them,” he said.
Smith said he’s praying for both victims.
“I’m sending out prayers to you and your family, and God bless you,” he said.
The crash is still under investigation.
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