Crashes, including two fatal wrecks, dot countryside on busy weekend for travel

In little more than three hours Friday night, two fatal crashes and a third serious accident occurred in the region.

Two people died at the scene and a third died Saturday as a result of injuries suffered in a crash on Interstate 80 in Clinton County. A driver died in an accident near Blossburg, and a motorcyclist was critically injured in an accident on Maynard Street in the city.

A motorist driving the wrong way on the Interstate near Loganton in Clinton County was killed instantly about 10:30 p.m. in a three-vehicle crash that also claimed the lives of two people in one of the other vehicles, state police at Lamar said.

John Pick, 44, of Lewisburg, was driving a Chevrolet Corsica westbound in the eastbound lane when the car collided head-on with a pickup truck driven by Timothy Wright, a 61-year-old New York state gospel singer, according to police and the Associated Press.

Pick was killed instantly as was Wright's wife, Betty, 58, police said. The two were pronounced dead at the scene by a Clinton County deputy coroner. The Wrights are from Roosevelt, N.Y.

The accident occurred in Greene Township, about eight miles east of Loganton.

The Associated Press reported that Wright has released more than a dozen gospel recordings, the latest was released last year titled "Jesus, Jesus."

He and a 14-year-old grandson who was riding in the truck were both pinned inside the wreckage for about 30 minutes, Denny Long, deputy chief of the Sugar Valley Volunteer Fire Co.

After being extricated from the truck, Wright and his grandson, who was identified by the Associated Press as D.J. Wright, were flown to Geisinger Medical Center in Danville with critical injuries.

Montour County Coroner Scott Lynn said that one of the crash victims died of blunt-force trauma injuries late Saturday afternoon. He declined to disclose the age of the victim, saying "We want to give the family some time."

Lynn was expected to release the victim's identity later today.

The Associated Press also reported that Wright is the pastor of Grace Tabernacle Christian Center, Brooklyn, N.Y., and that he and his family were returning from a Church of God in Christ conference in Detroit, Mich.

After Pick's car and the pickup truck collided, an eastbound Pontiac Grand Am driven by Kyle Creasap, 25, of Marion, Ohio, struck Wright's truck in the eastbound lane, Trooper Eric T. Kline said in a news release.

While Creasap was treated at Geisinger and discharged, a passenger, Heather Berringer, 23, of the same address, was admitted in fair condition, a nursing supervisor said.

"We'll probably never know where the westbound driver entered the eastbound lane. It's possible he came on at the Mile Run interchange, about four miles from the crash scene. However, it's also possible he came across at any one of the number of cross-overs (along the highway)," Long said.

The crash shut down the eastbound lanes of the interstate for about two hours, Long said. In addition to Sugar Valley, firefighters from Dunnstown, Flemington, and White Deer Township responded to the crash as did paramedics from Evangelical Community Hospital in Lewisburg.

Concerning the other area fatal crash Friday, Edward L. Painter Jr., 55, of Covington was pronounced dead at the scene of injuries he suffered when his pickup truck struck two trees and overturned on Fall Brook Road in Tioga County's Ward Township about 7:20 p.m., state police said.

Williamsport police said Daniel P. Clark of Danville was reported in critical condition in Geisinger with injuries he suffered when his motorcycle and a car collided on Maynard Street at the Interstate 180 interchange about 10:40 p.m.

The driver and a passenger in the car were treated at Williamsport Hospital for minor injuries. Their identities were not released.

Capt. Raymond O. Kontz III said "The investigation is still ongoing into the circumstances of the collision. No other details will be released at the time." He said more information may be released Monday.