Man Pleads Guilty to One Charge in Connection with Fatal Crash in Downtown Bellefonte

A Howard man on Thursday pleaded guilty to one count in connection with a fatal vehicle-pedestrian crash last year in downtown Bellefonte.

Investigators said 37-year-old Brandon Deitz struck Stephanie Wilson with his 2007 Dodge Ram pickup truck at about 8 a.m. on July 22, 2020 as the 36-year-old woman crossed West High Street near the intersection with North Allegheny Street.

Deitz pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count of accident involving death. A felony charge was dropped as part of the plea.

Sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 1. District Attorney Bernie Cantorna said his office plans to seek a sentence of 90 days to one year in jail.

According to an affidavit of probable cause, Deitz told state police investigators he stopped his truck on West High Street and “attempted to give aid, but became ‘scared and nervous’ so he left the scene…” He went to a nearby residence, where he requested the woman who lived there call 911, police wrote.

He told investigators he did not see Wilson when he struck her and did not feel an impact but that he saw her to the left of his truck as he drove by where she was lying on the road, according to the complaint.

Deitz was not under the influence of alcohol or drugs and was not charged with careless driving. An accident reconstruction concluded Deitz was driving 22 to 23 mph when he struck Wilson.

The crash and another earlier this year in which a woman was injured after being struck by a vehicle in the same area have prompted Bellefonte Borough officials to look at safety improvements at the Diamond, including temporary plastic barriers put in place in the late summer of this year and consideration of potential redesign options.