York County cop gets speeding ticket in homeless man's death

The Northeastern Regional Police officer who struck and killed a homeless man on North George Street in East Manchester Township last November was issued a speeding ticket, according to a review of the case released Friday.

Officer Scott George pleaded guilty to the offense and paid the fine, the York County District Attorney's office reported. He has returned to duty, according to the police department.

George could possibly have been charged with involuntary manslaughter or vehicular homicide, but District Attorney Thomas Kearney, in his review of the case, determined that the facts surrounding the death of Raymond Updegraff did not meet the legal requirements for such charges.

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The state police investigation into Updegraff's death concluded that George, operating an unmarked police cruiser, was doing 48 mph in a 35-mph zone.

"Using the definition of 'probable cause,' one must ask the question as to whether it is 'more likely than not' that the act of travelling 13 miles per hour over the speed limit on a rainy night was a direct or likely cause of the death," Kearney wrote in the 14-page memo outlining the case. "In other words, was the death the predictable, expected, likely result of the speeding? The author (Kearney) concludes in the negative believing the requirement for causation cannot be established beyond a reasonable doubt."

Kearney continued, "Traveling 13 miles per hour at night time, in the rain, is certainly not a prudent course of action. However, neither does it fit the definition of 'reckless' or 'grossly negligent' conduct beyond a reasonable doubt. While there exists a deviation from the standard of conduct society expects (traveling at or below the speed limit), the deviation is not a gross deviation."

Updegraff, 74, was a homeless man who was a fixture in Manchester, Mount Wolf and and York. He was living at the LifePath Christian Ministries shelter on West Market Street in York – formerly the York Rescue Mission – at the time of his death.

Kearney's office reported the district attorney would not be commenting beyond the report.

Northeastern Regional Police Chief Bryan Rizzo declined to comment, beyond saying that George was back on duty, referring calls to the district attorney's office.

Updegraff's niece, Dirinda Minnich, of West Manchester Township, said the family was "disappointed" that it took so long to hear the results of the investigation. She said Kearney had called her Thursday to let her know that the investigation was complete and inform her of the results.

"I thought the officer was going to get something more out of it than a speeding ticket," she said. "We're still disappointed that we didn't hear as much as an 'I'm sorry' from the officer. We're glad we finally heard something."

Updegraff – known around the Manchester-Mount Wolf area as "Rayme" -  was crossing North George Street, going from the McDonald's in the 4200 block of North George Street to the bus stop, apparently to catch a bus into York and the mission, when he was struck by George's southbound police cruiser.

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According to the report, Updegraff was wearing dark clothing on what was a rainy night along an ill-lit stretch of road. There are no streetlights in the area, Kearney wrote in the report.

George was headed to the Giant store in the 4200 block of North George Street to follow up on a retail theft investigation, a non-emergency call. The cruiser's windshield wipers were on intermittent. The cruiser's dashboard camera revealed that Updegraff did not come into sight until immediately before impact, and that George had attempted to swerve to the left to avoid hitting him.

There were no other eyewitnesses. An employee at McDonald's said she had walked to the bus stop after her shift ended at about 10:30 p.m., but that her back was to traffic and she didn't see what happened, according to the report.

Another witness, Jennifer Kay Smith, who works at Quigley 4x4 on Sunset Drive, just off North George Street, told investigators that she nearly hit a man matching Updegraff's description earlier that day, at about 5 p.m., while she was leaving work. She said as she turned onto North George Street, the man was standing in the middle of road, and she had to "stop suddenly to avoid hitting him."

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George had initially agreed to be interviewed by investigators, but when he appeared for the interview on Dec. 16 with his lawyer, he declined to be interviewed if the state troopers insisted on advising him of his Miranda rights, as required by state police regulations.

Instead, he provided a written statement, saying that he was "not in any hurry" as he drove to the Giant store that night. He said he had "visually checked" the businesses in that area as he drove by, "as was normal for me while on patrol."

"At no time prior to the accident did I see the pedestrian anywhere in that area," he wrote. "The first and only time I saw the pedestrian was immediately before impact with the corner of my car."

He wrote that he was not using a cellphone, the police radio or the car's onboard computer at the time.

Accepting responsibility

In a statement, George's attorney, Ed Paskey, said, "From the very beginning Officer George has expressed his deepest sympathy for the loss of Mr. Updegraff's life as a result of this tragic accident. That will not change."

Paskey said while his client "had a factual basis to challenge the evidence," he had advised George to plead guilty to the speeding ticket to resolve the case.

"Officer George and I agreed that accepting responsibility and providing legal closure for Mr. Updegraff's family regarding this accident was more important than contesting a traffic citation. People generally don't want to accept responsibility for their own actions in today's society; he did."

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Reviewing the law, Kearney wrote that George's actions did not meet the requirements for filing charges more serious than speeding.

"Pennsylvania case law tells us that the act of speeding alone, while not itself sufficient, may together with surrounding circumstances evidence disregard for human life or indifference to consequences," Kearney wrote.

"For criminal liability to attach to a fatal automobile accident, the Vehicle Code violation must contain aggravating circumstances amounting to reckless conduct. Something more than slight negligence that will support a civil action is required."