State police charge passenger in fatal crash on Interstate 78 in Berks
State police have charged a Lebanon man with vehicular homicide for causing a van driven occupied by six men to crash last winter along Interstate 78 in Berks County, killing a fellow passenger.
Dustin Harbaugh, 36, is accused of getting up from the third row of a minivan on the group’s ride back to Lebanon from a Reading nightclub on Jan. 8, 2022, and grabbing the steering wheel during an argument with the driver.
The driver lost control, and the van left the highway near mile marker 9.8 in Bethel Township, troopers said. After traveling through brush and a metal farm fence, the van flipped onto the driver’s side and slid on snow and ice into a large tree, they said.
Only the driver was wearing a seat belt, and all had to be freed from the wreckage, troopers said.
Jason C. Blauch, 38, of Myerstown was killed.
The others suffered multiple injuries and were taken to Penn State Hershey Medical Center for treatment.
Harbaugh was ordered held for court on all charges following a preliminary hearing Wednesday before District Judge Andrea J. Book in Jefferson Township.
Harbaugh remained free to await further court action in Berks County Court on charges of homicide by vehicle, involuntary manslaughter, and five counts of reckless endangerment.
State police at Hamburg filed the charges Oct. 24 but made no announcement.
According to the probable cause affidavit:
The men were headed west about 2 a.m. in a minivan driven by Jose Martinez of Lebanon.
The vehicle was modified for wheelchair accessibility. The driver’s seat was modified to swivel 180 degrees to allow Martinez to enter the van and put himself in the driver’ seat. A lever beneath the steering controlled the accelerator and brakes, and a knob mounted to the steering wheel assisted Martinez with steering.
Harbaugh and another man sat in the third row. In front of them, where the second-row factory seats had been removed for wheelchair accessibility, were Blauch and another man.
Blauch sat in a lawn chair while the other man was using Martinez’s wheelchair.
Interviewed by a trooper at the hospital, Martinez said the passengers had been consuming alcohol. He said Harbaugh poured beer on the passenger sitting in Martinez’s wheelchair. An argument between Martinez and Harbaugh ensued.
Harbaugh asked Martinez to stop along the side of the road, but Martinez refused. Harbaugh made his way from the third row to just behind the driver’s seat. He grabbed the steering wheel and took control of the vehicle.
Martinez said he was unable to regain control and the next thing he remembered was crashing.
More than a month after the crash, a third passenger was interviewed at the Hamburg station. He told two investigators that Martinez and Harbaugh had been arguing and Harbaugh went crazy after Martinez said something about Harbaugh’s ex-wife.
Martinez rushed through the middle row and grabbed the steering wheel, causing Martinez to swerve off the road. He heard Martinez screaming just before the crash.
An autopsy determined Blauch died of crushing head injuries.