BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

« Back to Archive
63

Man Caught and Arraigned in Penn Ave Hit and Run of James Price

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — Three months after a bicyclist was struck and killed on Penn Avenue in Point Breeze, a 29-year-old Pitcairn man is behind bars.


Jeffrey McClure is facing several charges in connection with the crash that killed 46-year-old James Price Jr. of Homewood.


The accident happened in the early morning hours of July 25 near the intersection of Penfield Court and Penn Avenue.


Witnesses say a white car hit Price and then fled the scene.


Price was taken to UPMC Presbyterian Hospital where he died from his injuries.


Police arrested McClure last week and Price’s family attended his first hearing on Friday.


Glenice Price, the victim’s mother, told KDKA’s Kym Gable, “He looked at us and he put his head down. It was wrong. It was wrong. He hit him. He didn’t even stop.”


Price’s father told KDKA he feels sorry for McClure.


“I forgive him because I’m a Christian,” he said.


caitlin
2012-10-15 21:29:24

Great news. I really want to hear how the police found him.


scott
2012-10-15 21:36:33

It looks like Mr. McClure has a long history of traffic and criminal violations. I too would like to hear how they found him.


fjordan
2012-10-15 22:05:25

I'm glad for the family. I'm sure it doesn't comfort them much, but maybe some small part of them rests a little easier now knowing Mr Price's killer is off the streets. I admire Mr. Price's father for being able to forgive this man and I hope the family finds peace.


2012-10-15 22:15:50

Props for the cops.


atleastmykidsloveme
2012-10-15 23:52:52

Glad to hear that someone will be held accountable for what happened to Mr. Price. Now if they can find the guy who attacked Colin Albright and hit Dr. Noll...


ka_jun
2012-10-16 01:02:31

He has a hefty list of driving and criminal charges.


He had a dui in 2007, public drunkeness in 2004. driving with suspended license in 2004. 2003 driving with suspended license.


lesser - running red light in 2011. disregard traffic lane in 2010. running stop sigh in 2010.


he's had multiple assault charges that have been dismissed over the past decade or so as well.


justin
2012-10-16 04:21:42

How the #!&*%@ heck is this human waste getting access to cars? Does he own car? 'Cause if he does, he shouldn't, it should be seized. Are people letting him borrow cars? If they are they should face the same charges he does. God, the questions reporters don't ask drive me nuts.


edmonds59
2012-10-16 10:32:58

Maybe it's nice that Price's father has forgiven the guy for killing his son but for me, forgiveness comes with costs. Remorse and reform. The person must realize that he was wrong for what he has done and must also show that, in that realization, will not allow it to happen again.


McClure's criminal record shows that he is not worthy of my forgiveness.


kordite
2012-10-16 12:10:27

I'm glad they caught him. I remember what a young woman (Price's daughter?) said to me at the service -- that she wanted justice. Well, she'll get it, and deserves it.

I never thought they would catch this guy. I'm really glad they did.

Forgiveness can be freely given, without cost.


jonawebb
2012-10-16 12:14:13

Forgiveness without costs is the abandonment of justice.


kordite
2012-10-16 12:31:50

Forgiveness is a function of individual morality.


Justice is a function of law, executed by the state.


atleastmykidsloveme
2012-10-16 12:42:24

Unfortunately the news of this is being almost completely overshadowed by other, more current, car wrecks.


edmonds59
2012-10-16 13:06:16

The quality of mercy is not strained.

It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven,

Upon the place beneath.

It is twice blessed.

It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.


jonawebb
2012-10-16 13:11:17

Shakespearean quotes aside, my individual morality includes, or rather requires, justice. When a prisoner is released on parole, he is judged by the parole board on remorse and reform. If he doesn't accept that he has done something wrong, then they don't let him go. If he shows no inclination to modify his behavior away from his previous criminal acts, they don't let him go. The state does not forgive without these two conditions being met.


My forgiveness, though perhaps not as stringent as a parole board or the legal system as a whole, nonetheless also requires those questions to be answered.


kordite
2012-10-16 14:06:20

He has a hefty list of driving and criminal charges.


Which means he must REALLY drive like a dickhead.


I haven't seen cops here pull over anyone for a variety of offenses when an officer was present, I can't even imagine what's needed to actually catch their attention.


rice-rocket
2012-10-16 14:57:52

Maybe it's nice that Price's father has forgiven the guy for killing his son but for me, forgiveness comes with costs. Remorse and reform. The person must realize that he was wrong for what he has done and must also show that, in that realization, will not allow it to happen again.


I don't know Mr. Price's theology, but forgiveness is at the very core of what Christianity is all about. It does not, however, mean that a person should not suffer the consequences of his or her actions. Perhaps Mr. Price does feel that McClure shouldn't be held to the consequences of the law, but I suspect he comment is more along the lines of "I'm going to let this go personally, because both the law and God will take care of this, and my faith compels me to forgive people."


bjanaszek
2012-10-16 15:11:00

From page 3 of the initial thread (me):


When we identify this motorist, I want to know what the purpose of his/her trip was. What were points A and B? Why was using Penn Ave preferable to another route? And why was the car necessary in the first place?


Of course, what I am getting at is that bicycles and transit and other non-car means of travel, and not traveling at all, need to become more feasible. Had this driver not been in a car, there would not have been a fatality.


I will assume he started in Pitcairn. Do we know where he was headed, etc., from all the other questions above?


stuinmccandless
2012-10-16 17:01:44

@edmonds59 God, the questions reporters don't ask drive me nuts.


Why wouldn't they ask?


Well, how would asking those questions help the reports sell cars? That is the main funtion of TV , and a big function of the newspapers.


There was discussion of the best TV program here. The "best" TV program? The one that sells the most SUVs.


mick
2012-10-16 17:04:20

So, this makes we wonder why a certain jeep driver is still not charged with anything?


eric
2012-10-16 18:19:19

"...forgiveness is at the very core of what Christianity is all about."


That's except for those Christians with the whole "sinners burn in hell forever" theology.


kordite
2012-10-16 19:08:28

So, this makes we wonder why a certain jeep driver is still not charged with anything?


Me too.


rsprake
2012-10-16 20:05:44

Me three


scott
2012-10-16 20:12:58

Since they know who the guy is, and he must have legal representation, I would expect that they are in some process of plea bargaining. I'm not completely sure but isn't this usually attempted before formal charges are filed?


jonawebb
2012-10-16 20:19:06

McClure's prior rap sheet (which sounds extensive and car-related) might have moved things along.


pseudacris
2012-10-16 20:37:26

Jon, I'm nearly certain that plea bargaining happens post charges being filed.


scott
2012-10-16 21:02:08

Typically, yes, and probably more so at the state level, but not necessarily. Any number of things can be going on in the background which would delay charging a defendant, even when all the evidence needed to bring charges is in the government's possession.


Here is but one example: law enforcement amasses enough evidence to charge someone with crime X. The criminal knows he's dead in the water on crime X, so he decides to cooperate with law enforcement and share his knowledge of crime Y, a totally unrelated matter, in exchange for some measure of leniency on crime X. While the criminal is cooperating, the government refrains from charging him with crime X as it wants him "out on the streets" and "wired for sound" to collect evidence of crime Y. With that said, what is happening with the idiot who hit Dan Y. is anyone's guess.


Also, and more importantly, I'm really glad that the guy who hit Mr. Price was caught. Unfortunately, it sounds like he is someone with no assets whatsoever, so Mr. Price's heirs may be looking solely to the criminal justice system for their due measure of justice.


jmccrea
2012-10-16 21:24:19

If all of this is true and this guy is allowed to drive again our system is seriously messed up.


tetris_draftsman
2012-10-18 10:14:10

Does anyone else find it odd that the newspapers and TV stations have not been showing a photo of this man? (Or maybe they have, and I missed it.) Usually they include the mug shot.


mmfranzen
2012-10-18 11:43:11

VERY weird. There was a picture of him in one of the TV reports, but that's all I've seen.


Taking this guy's license away is clearly not enough--he belongs in jail for the rest of his sorry life.


2012-10-18 11:53:25

Seriously, what do we do when we live at A, need to get to B, and the only way we know how to do it is to drive? Short of putting this guy behind bars, nothing is going to keep him from getting behind the wheel of anything that moves. And there are hundreds more like him.


Fix the cause of the cause of the problem.


stuinmccandless
2012-10-18 11:54:27

The 69 is not a bad connection to Pitcairn. It actually runs down Penn Ave, where this guy killed James Price. And you can take a bike on the rack of course. So I'd say he had alternatives.


jonawebb
2012-10-18 12:11:05

Licensing works so well for drivers we should implement a license program for cyclists too. Duh. Also, comments are disabled.


rsprake
2012-10-18 14:14:17

@pseudacris "... a recovering opiate addict


I'm skeptical of the "recovering" part. That would go a long way to explain both the "hit" part and the "run" part.


I'm guessing Mr McClure will be out on bail in a while, then do less than one year and have his license a year after getting out.


mick
2012-10-18 18:00:22

License, he don't need no stinkin' licence!


helen-s
2012-10-18 20:48:16

The only thing I can really add to this tread is my thanks to the investigators. Lately it has been very discouraging all the unsolved crimes against cyclist. This brings back a little hope that there are people out there trying to solve these crimes and are taking these cases seriously.


marvelousm3
2012-10-18 21:01:14

+1 mr m. After meeting Mr. Price's family it would be nice to see them get some justice for their son


marko82
2012-10-19 01:16:42

How terrible is this situation. How can you leave a man you

Hit? What type of man are you? But let's be honest, this is lose lose. A man is dead and children lose their father. Although if a drug addict it may be better for the kids if dad is away for a while.


2012-10-19 13:38:02

Judging what is happening in the Lawrenceville hit and run with that Jeep, I am not sure much will happen, except this guy had no license and also had a pretty bad driving record with DUIs and a host of other things going on. My heart goes out to that man's family. Hopefully this will help mend a bit, but you never really mend.


2012-10-19 14:22:41
serving between two and a half and five years in prison
erok
2013-02-12 12:06:38
i'm actually surprised how fast this happened
erok
2013-02-12 12:12:10
I'm thinking someone tipped off the police to the identity of the car and driver. A shattered front windshield on a white car on the same night Price was killed is difficult to explain. A neighbor or relative may have put the dots together. I don't see how the police could have found it, unless they reviewed security camera footage from locations nearby.
chemicaldave
2013-02-12 12:18:18
1) driving on a suspended license 2) Speeding 3) Leaving the scene 4) Lying to detectives 5) Oh yea, KILLING a person Gets you two years. This is disgusting!
marko82
2013-02-12 12:23:03
Erok- i’m actually surprised how fast this happened A guilty plea can make everything go faster. I had heard 5 years which made me happy. Two and a half years (maybe what? 15 months with good behavior?) is less than I would want, but the guy still has time to think about it.
mick
2013-02-12 12:24:31
I hope the 8 years of probation means no driving or substance abuse.
pseudacris
2013-02-12 12:30:44
OK, now that we see that justice is done, to some degree, I would like to get back to the question I asked when this happened: Where was this guy going, both from and to, that he needed a car to do it? If he was driving with a suspended license, clearly he had to think about it once or twice, that anytime he got behind the wheel of a vehicle he was breaking the law, so you'd think there would be impetus to come up with an answer. So, Pitcairn. One transit choice, the 69 Trafford. First bus through Pitcairn at 4:41, second at 5:26, then roughly every half hour through morning rush. Why wasn't that an option? Did he not know how? Did he honestly try to use it and missed it that morning? Was fare payment an issue? Was a transfer necessary in there? Did he not have any sort of backup plan in case he missed the one bus? All these questions matter. All are relevant. We're again into the annual funding fight, where we find out in a few short months if they have to cut service *again*. Remember, Pinball Woman down on Smallman and 14th may well have been driving for lack of transit service, too. There are reasons people drive, and many of them suck. Of those that do, poor policy choices, be it land-use or transportation, are behind those reasons.
stuinmccandless
2013-02-12 14:02:34
Channel 4 is going to have a story in the next half hour. I may be mistaken, but it looks like the ghost bike is gone (I just saw a teaser)?
stefb
2013-02-12 17:24:15
Nevermind. It is still there.
stefb
2013-02-12 17:34:17
Your unamused cat got a lot bigger on this page.
rice-rocket
2013-02-12 17:38:58
Yeah, avatars have quintupled in size during the afternoon.
stuinmccandless
2013-02-12 17:47:56
But only on this page. Go back a page and it's fine?
rice-rocket
2013-02-12 17:51:33
Yeah, I just saw the ghost bike on Saturday. I'm also wondering what happened to the driver who hit and killed Mr. Green on Penn a week later? IIRC that driver didn't hit & run -probably because they hit a pole and couldn't leave. I haven't heard one word about that crash since right after it happened.
salty
2013-02-12 18:06:59
Also, responding to J Z - they did arrest the guy who stabbed Colin Albright but I haven't heard about charges there either.
salty
2013-02-12 18:08:27
Thanks to the now working search function on this site, I was able to find the post that told us that the driver who killed Anthony Green was referred for homicide investigation: http://bike-pgh.org/mb/topic/tune-into-kdka-news-tonight-at-6-for-an-updated-story-on-dan/#post-254824. So maybe that's still going on. Haven't heard anything else -- I checked the court database this morning for more info. I didn't hear anything about the guy who stabbed Mr. Albright, either. My impression is that these things take a really long time, but that doesn't mean they aren't going to happen.
jonawebb
2013-02-12 20:11:03
I was at the co-op at around 7:30 tonight... ghost bike still there. There is a light on the back that was lit (or maybe a reflection that looked like a light).
frisbee
2013-02-12 21:14:09
The verdict got a good amount of coverage. I tried to compile them here.
erok
2013-02-13 10:47:52
Great resource erok, thanks for compiling. In a similar vane, there was some discussion on the board a few weeks back of us cyclists showing up to show support at court hearings - just sitting in the courtroom with your helmet in hand to show that the cyclist isn’t alone. Is it possible to have a sticky thread or link from the home page that would track when upcoming court dates are so those of us that may want to go will know about it ahead of time? Or maybe include the court dates on the ride calendar in a different text color or something? We are pretty good at showing up to ribbon cuttings and such, but I think it’s just as important to start showing up in court too. I was one of the dozens of cyclist who rode in support of the Price family shortly after the crash and I would have gone down to the hearing to show the judge and DA that there are people who care about the outcomes of these trials. I think if the DA saw that there are many "voters" who think that 2.5 years is far too little for the life of a fellow citizen then maybe they might work a little harder for justice the next time.
marko82
2013-02-13 11:26:18
Sorry, wrong thread.
jonawebb
2013-04-09 07:36:34