CENTRE COUNTY — Two women were killed in two separate crashes in Centre County recently. One crash occurred on June 10 in State College Borough and the other occurred on June 12 in Pine Grove Mills.
According to Centre County Chief Deputy Coroner John D. Kubalak, Raina A. Kassoway, 48, of Boalsburg, died as a result of injuries sustained in a single-vehicle crash that occurred around 11:15 a.m. last Wednesday at the intersection of South Allen Street and Easterly Parkway in the borough.
Upon arrival on scene, State College Borough Police officers found Kassoway, who had been driving the vehicle, unresponsive. Alpha Fire Department and Centre Life Link EMS arrived to extricate her from the vehicle.
Despite life-saving efforts, she was pronounced deceased after transport to Mount Nittany Medical Center.
Video footage from the intersection showed the vehicle traveling northbound on Allen Street at a high rate of speed. The vehicle entered the intersection using the westbound turn lane and continued straight, north on Allen Street. The vehicle then left the left side of the roadway, narrowly missing a southbound motorist and a northbound pedestrian.
The vehicle continued across a lawn, struck a cement retaining wall on Sunrise Terrace before becoming airborne and landing on its roof. The driver was the sole occupant of the vehicle and no other injuries were reported.
An autopsy was conducted at Mount Nittany Medical Center on June 11. According to the Kubalak, the cause of death was determined to be blunt force trauma to the head and chest due to a motor vehicle crash and the manner of death was ruled accidental.
The crash remains under investigation by the Centre County Coroner’s Office and the State College Police Department.
On June 12 at approximately 10:48 p.m., Ferguson Township Police officers were dispatched to a single-vehicle crash in the 200 block of Water Street in Pine Grove Mills.
The preliminary investigation indicates that the vehicle failed to negotiate a sharp turn on Pine Grove Mountain, subsequently leaving the roadway and traveling approximately 150 feet before coming to rest against a drainage ditch.
There were no other occupants in the vehicle, and no other vehicles were involved in the crash. The driver, a 78-year-old female from Ohio, was later flown by medical helicopter to Williamsport Hospital where she was pronounced dead as a result of her injuries. The name of the driver was not immediately released.
In addition to the Ferguson Township Police Department, the crash is actively being investigated by the Centre County Crash Reconstruction Team. Ferguson Township Police were assisted at the scene by Centre Lifelink EMS and the Alpha Fire Department.
