Black Forest Broadcasting

…NYC driver causes McKean County collision…Cops look for litterbug who dropped off garbage on private property…House committee approves bill to cut down on human trafficking….

 McKean County

Both drivers escaped injury in a collision Saturday afternoon in Hamlin Township. State police said the collision occurred when Baiying Zhang of Grand Island, NY was traveling south on Route 219 and attempted to make a left hand turn onto Route 6 and failed to stop at a posted stop sign and traveled into the approaching path of a 1994 Jeep Wrangler driven by Anthony Branthoover of Grampian, PA. Both vehicles came to rest in the middle of Route 6 facing West.

Troopers at Lewis Run  are looking for a litter bug who dropped off garbage on private property along the Bordell Road in Keating Township at around 6:30 pm on Saturday April 8. Police were unable to determine the person responsible and ask that anyone who knows anything about the incident to call them at 814-368-9230.

DUI charges are pending against a 30 year old Clarendon, PA man who was stopped by state police on N. Fraley Street in Wetmore Township for a traffic violation on the night of March 31.State police claim the unidentified suspect was driving his 2021 Chevrolet Tahoe under the influence of alcohol.

Statewide

The House Judiciary Committee yesterday voted in favor of legislation authored by Rep. Rob Kauffman (R-Franklin), Republican chairman of the committee, that seeks to support human trafficking victims by making is easier for them to bring lawsuits against their offenders.

The Commonwealth’s comprehensive human trafficking protections include a provision specifically authorizing civil lawsuits to be brought by victims against any person who participates in the human trafficking of the victim, as well as against those who recruit, profit from or maintain the victim in the sex trade, or who abuse or otherwise physically harm victims. Some of those cases may be brought in the county where the victim resides, while others may also be filed in a county where the human trafficking violations occurred.

House Bill 394 (formerly House Bill 1096) would allow all these lawsuits to be brought either where the victim resides or where the violations occurred.

House Bill 394 passed the committee unanimously and now goes before the full House for consideration.