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Man pleads guilty in fatal crash case

Bruscoe killed two women after hitting stopped SUV in Cambria Township

A Lycoming County man who was involved in a car accident that killed two area women and injured another pleaded guilty Monday in Cambria County Court to charges including involuntary manslaughter.

Marc J. Bruscoe, 28, of Hughesville was charged late last year for his part in a collision at a traffic light at the intersection of Route 22 and Mini Mall Road in Cambria Township on June 15 2016.

Bruscoe drove a large pickup truck into the rear of an SUV stopped at the light, according to Cambria Township police.

Passengers in the SUV — Jean Sommer, 55, and her mother, Donna Daley, 79 — were killed, and the vehicle’s driver, Catherine Wilk, 40, was injured.

Wilk and Sommer were sisters, and Daley was their mother.

According to charging documents, Bruscoe was traveling between 63 and 64 mph along a portion of Route 22, where the speed limit is 45 mph, at the time of the crash.

The charging documents also claim Bruscoe was driving recklessly and traveling too closely behind the Ford Explorer.

Daley was pronounced dead at the scene, and Sommer died while being transported to an area hospital, police said.

When interviewed by police, Bruscoe said he didn’t see the Ford Explorer, officers said.

On Monday, Bruscoe appeared before Senior Judge Timothy Creany.

He pleaded guilty to two first-degree misdemeanor charges of involuntary manslaughter, as well as lesser charges of reckless endangerment and reckless driving, said Jennifer Hagens, special assistant to the Cambria County district attorney.

A message left late Monday afternoon for Bruscoe’s attorney, Steven P. Passarello, was not returned by early evening.

Bruscoe is scheduled to be sentenced at 10 a.m. Nov. 28, Hagens confirmed.

Bruscoe has a history of traffic-related charges dating back to 2009,

online court documents show.

Since charges were filed for the Cambria Township crash, Bruscoe has faced additional charges in Lycoming County, where online documents show he was accused of speeding, harassment, criminal mischief and possession of a small amount of marijuana — all on separate occasions.

In June, Bruscoe also was charged in Lycoming County with felony robbery, as well as a number of related misdemeanor and summary charges.

For those charges, he was lodged in Lycoming County Prison unable to post $15,000 cash bail, according to online records.

Mirror Staff Writer Sean Sauro is at 946-7535.

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