Guilty Plea Entered in Fatal Amish Buggy Accident

MILL HALL — A Lock Haven woman today entered a guilty plea to several summary offense charges related to a fatal crash involving an Amish buggy in Sugar Valley last summer.

Sherry Croak, 56, appeared today before District Judge John Maggs and entered a guilty plea to charges of careless driving resulting in death, driving on the right side of the roadway and meeting a vehicle proceeding in the opposite direction. Croak had previously entered a not guilty plea and was scheduled for a summary trial this afternoon in district court.

With Clinton County District Attorney Dave Strouse and two state policemen, one of them a collision reconstruction officer, in attendance prepared to prosecute the case, the accused instead entered a guilty plea. She had previously paid the fines and court costs of $790.45 (as required per state law for entering a not guilty plea to such charges) and as the summary offenses called for no incarceration, she left the district office after the brief proceeding.

The charges had been filed by state police in February of this year. Their initial report said Croak had been the operator of a UPS truck which on the evening of July 10, 2015 had “for some unknown reason” drifted into the path of an Amish buggy operated by Aaron Beiler, 37, of Loganton. The impact caused the buggy to overturn while the truck continued on until running into a tree. The 6:57 p.m. accident occurred on West Winter Road near Brother’s Lane. Beiler’s wife Rachel, 36, and son David, 8, were killed in the crash. Beiler, the buggy operator and three other Beiler children were injured in the collision. Croak suffered minor injuries the accident.