Murrysville police accuse Morningside man in Route 22 hit-and-run
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Murrysville police obtained an arrest warrant for a Pittsburgh man — also wanted in two neighboring counties — after they say he crashed his car into a dump truck along Route 22 before fleeing the scene, according to court records.
John A. Paustenbaugh II, 29, who lives in the Morningside area, is charged with failing to stop and render aid, flight to avoid prosecution, following too closely, driving on a DUI suspended license, driving without a license and resisting arrest in connection with the 7:41 a.m. crash Wednesday along the eastbound lanes of Route 22 at Harrison City Road.
Officer Corey Fearon said when he arrived at the scene, two men were standing near a damaged red Nissan sedan owned by Paustenbaugh and a dump truck, which also was damaged.
Fearon said the male driver of the dump truck and a second man who witnessed the crash reported that the “20-something-year-old driver” of the car loaded multiple items into a drawstring bag before he “ran off” over a steep hillside.
The dump truck driver, Philip Jones, said he went to check on the driver of the car after the crash and the man was hurriedly tossing items from the vehicle over a nearby hillside.
“Philip said he asked the driver if he was OK and the driver replied “I’m going to jail” and … took off over the hillside,” Fearon wrote.
Fearon said the hillside has a 50-foot drop and is covered with loose stones and heavy, overgrown brush.
Police used a drone and a state police helicopter in an unsuccessful attempt to locate the driver.
Officers found numerous identification cards inside the car and on the hillside identifying Paustenbaugh. Jones also identified Paustenbaugh from a photo ID left at the scene, police said.
Officers seized multiple criminal hearing summons from Allegheny and Armstrong counties for drug, firearm and traffic complaints, Fearon reported.
Paustenbaugh is awaiting trial in Allegheny County on several drug delivery and possession complaints after his Nov. 21 arrest by agents from the state Attorney General’s office. He was released from the county jail on $7,500 bond in that case, but it was revoked April 29 after he failed to show up for a hearing.
He was arrested again on Feb. 22 by state police in Kittanning in Manor Township for illegal possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, driving on a DUI suspended license and driving without a license. He was released after posting $30,000 bond from a bail bondsman in that case.
Dockets indicate Paustenbaugh has an extensive criminal history dating back to a 2010 arrest in Tarentum.
A 2011 arrest on drug-related charges by Hampton police resulted in a prison sentence, according to online dockets. He pleaded guilty in 2013 in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court to manufacturing, delivery and possession of a controlled substance and was sentenced to up to 23 months in prison.
According to court records, in 2018 he was sentenced to serve 12 to 24 months in prison in Armstrong County after pleading guilty to several drug possession and delivery charges.
About 10 hours after the accident in Murrysville, Fearon said police received a telephone call from a Penn Township man who lives on Harrison City Road. He said a suspicious man carrying a white drawstring bag arrived at his home on foot and asked to use his telephone. The man claimed he had gotten into an argument with a girlfriend and called a taxi for a ride.
Fearon said in court documents that authorities believe the man was Paustenbaugh.