News

June 19, 2008

Trucker in fatal pleads guilty

Jonathan Basil Havel of W-B was driving a big rig involved in Route 118 crash.

By Ed Lewis elewis@timesleader.com
Times Leader Staff Writer
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KINGSTON TWP. – A tractor-trailer driver who police said was e-mailing a dispatcher when he hit several vehicles in a fatal crash last year, pleaded guilty to five summary traffic violations, according to court records.

Jonathan Basil Havel Sr., 57, of Wilkes-Barre, pleaded guilty to three counts of careless driving resulting in serious bodily injury, one count of careless driving resulting in death and one count of failing to keep the right of way. Havel pleaded guilty to the summaries at the office of District Judge James E. Tupper on Tuesday. He was fined $1,568, according to court records.

The crash claimed the life of a North Carolina man and injured several others.

Lehman Township police said Havel was operating a 2007 International tractor-trailer on state Route 118 on Nov. 7 when the crash occurred. Police said Havel became distracted and collided with three vehicles at the intersection of Fedor Road. Havel was using a small laptop computer to e-mail a dispatcher at the time of the collision, police said.

The tractor-trailer collided with a Chevrolet Blazer driven by Marie Carkhuff of Hunlock Township, who was stopped on Route 118 while attempting to turn onto Fedor Road, police said.

The tractor-trailer then struck a Honda sport utility vehicle driven by William Norman Smith III, 54, and a Dodge Intrepid driven by Jeffrey Bartlo of West Pittston.

Smith was killed in the crash. His wife, Donna, and four others were hospitalized.

An autopsy showed Smith died from multiple traumatic injuries. His death was ruled an accident in May, according to the Luzerne County Coroner’s Office.

The speed limit on Route 118 near Fedor Road is 55 miles per hour, Police Chief Howard Kocher said. Kocher previously said Havel wasn’t exceeding the speed limit.

Soon after the crash, the state improved the roadway by removing seven passing zones, installing reflective pavement markers and rumble strips, and replacing road signs near the intersection.

Edward Lewis, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 829-7196.

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