Widow of Ligonier Twp. officer killed in crash plans to file lawsuit

LIGONIER TOWNSHIP, Pa. — According to Channel 11's news partners at TribLIVE, the widow of a Ligonier Township police officer who was killed in a crash with a wrong-way driver is planning to file a lawsuit.

TribLIVE reports that Lt. Eric Eslary's wife, Mary Beth Eslary, intends to sue the driver accused of causing the crash as well as the employer who owns the van he was driving and Beehive Showbar, the exotic dance club where the driver was before the crash.

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Eslary, 40, was driving on Route 30 in his patrol car with his K-9 Officer Blek when a work van owned by Westmoreland Pools and Spas and driven by Clair Fink III was headed east in the westbound lanes of Route 30, slamming into Eslary's vehicle. Fink was critically injured, but was released from the hospital, according to state police.

Blek was also severely injured in the crash and is still recuperating, TribLIVE reported.

No criminal charges have been filed in the case, but an investigation into the crash continues.

The passenger who was in the car that caused the crash said Fink had been drinking prior to the crash.

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WPXI