Leechburg man gets probation in crash that seriously injured woman
Jun. 21—Life hasn't been the same for Helen Shaw after her car was forced off the road in Allegheny Township by an unlicensed driver.
She can't do some her favorite activities, like swim or take her dog for a walk, because the pain becomes overwhelming. Mostly, she stays at home.
"The doctors told me I'll be in pain for the rest of my life and there's nothing they can do," she said through tears on the witness stand Monday.
She asked Judge Meagan Bilik-DeFazio to sentence Brett William Mego, 24, of Leechburg, formerly of Vandergrift, to a jail term in connection with the March 22, 2019, crash on South Leechburg Hill. But Bilik-DeFazio opted to sentence Mego to a year on home electronic monitoring and three years of probation.
Mego pleaded guilty Monday to aggravated assault by vehicle and accidents involving injury by an unlicensed driver, avoiding trial. Bilik-DeFazio said Mego accepting responsibility and his age were among reasons she decided on a probationary sentence.
"This is one of those situations where I can't do anything to change what happened to her," Bilik-DeFazio said.
Police said the wreck happened when Mego, driving a Honda Civic, was passing Shaw's Nissan Juke in a no-passing zone. The two collided and Mego drove away, police said. Shaw's SUV was forced into a guardrail at the intersection with West Leechburg Road. It continued through a business' parking lot, where it stuck another vehicle before rolling down a hillside and across a small creek.
Shaw recounted the terrifying moments afterwards during Mego's hearing. She said she was headed to a hair appointment the day of the crash. Instead, she was hospitalized.
"My back is all metal," she said.
Renatta Signorini is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Renatta at 724-837-5374, rsignorini@triblive.com or via Twitter .
