Glassport man charged with homicide by vehicle in fatal March crash

A Glassport man was driving 95 mph and sped through stop signs and red lights just before he crashed into another car in North Versailles, killing the other driver, according to charges filed this week.

Shamar Roach, 24, is charged with homicide by vehicle and involuntary manslaughter in connection with the March 2 collision that killed 59-year-old John Semenko.

The crash happened just before 11 p.m. at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Congress Street.

One witness called 911 just before the crash to report an erratic driver in a white van on Fifth Avenue, according to a criminal complaint. She said the van drove up behind her and then passed her while running a red light.

A second witness told police that she feared for her life as the van came up behind her, saying she believed the van to going “twice the speed limit (and) she thought she was going to die,” according to the complaint.

She said as the van passed her, she saw a truck begin to pull out from Congress Street and “knew it wouldn’t make it” because the van was traveling at such a high rate of speed, according to the complaint.

Semenko was driving a maroon Ford Explorer Sport.

Police said surveillance footage from two nearby businesses showed the van, a white Dodge Caravan, running a stop sign at Largo Way and a red light at Greensburg Avenue, investigators wrote. Roach, who was injured in the crash, tested positive for THC and had a blood-alcohol level of 0.084%, according to toxicology reports from the county crime lab.

Crash data from the Dodge Caravan showed that the vehicle sped up in the seconds before the crash, according to the complaint.

At five seconds before the crash, the speed was 82 mph, according to the complaint. At two seconds prior, the van’s speed was 92 mph, and one second before, it was at 95 mph. The brakes were not applied until less than one second before the crash, investigators wrote.

In addition to homicide by vehicle and involuntary manslaughter, Roach is charged with aggravated assault by vehicle, reckless endangerment, driving under the influence, and several moving violations.

In an early morning arraignment Tuesday, a judge denied bail for Roach, calling him in court records a “risk to (the) community.”

Court records did not list an attorney for Roach as of Tuesday afternoon. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Aug. 26.