SMETHPORT — Bradford man Daniel Oaks II will be sentenced next month in McKean County Court on five counts of reckless endangerment from a fatal accident in September 2018.
Oaks, 34, was found guilty of those charges following a trial at the end of August. However, the jury deadlocked on the more serious charges against him — homicide by vehicle, involuntary manslaughter and three counts of aggravated assault by vehicle. According to an online court docket, the McKean County District Attorney’s office will retry him on those charges, with his case being added to the list of trials to be scheduled.
He will be sentenced for the endangerment charges at 9:30 a.m. Nov. 4.
Oaks was the driver in a one-vehicle crash on Sept. 8, 2018, in Duke Center. Oaks’ girlfriend, Alyssa Hawk, 28, was killed in the crash, and Oaks, along with three bystanders — Cody and Sam Pearce and Justin McDivitt — suffered serious injuries. Investigators alleged it was the speed of the car, which was estimated at 88 mph, that caused the injuries and damage.
According to police, on Sept. 8, 2018, a Subaru WRX — a sports car — driven by Oaks left the Y Bar in Duke Center, where Oaks was helping decorate for a fundraising event. The car went off the road near 610 Main St., struck a full-size pickup truck, pushing it into two side-by-side utility vehicles. The truck was pushed into McDivitt and the Pearces, who were standing in the yard, and it struck a porch, destroying it. Hawk was a passenger in Oaks’ car.
Police said alcohol was not a factor in the crash.
The defense argued there was a mechanical issue with the car at the time of the crash.
Oaks was represented at trial by Bradford attorneys Anthony Clarke and Casey Graffius. The case was prosecuted by McKean County District Attorney Stephanie Vettenburg-Shaffer.
