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ONLY ON 11: New video shows traffic stop that led to fatal Thanksgiving Day crash

NORTH VERSAILLES, Pa. — New surveillance video obtained exclusively by Channel 11 News Tuesday shows the traffic stop on Thanksgiving Day that led to a police pursuit and crash, leaving a young family dead.

“I'll never get over losing a whole family. I won't get them back,” Catherine Bianco said.

Bianco lost her son, his fiancée and their 2-year-old daughter on Nov. 24. David Bianco, 28, Kailey Meininger, 21, and their 2-year-old daughter, Annika, were all killed after a driver fleeing officers collided with their vehicle, causing it to burst into flames.

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Channel 11 News showed Bianco the surveillance video from the GetGo gas station, where an East McKeesport officer pulled over Demetrius Coleman after he made an illegal left turn.

At 2:16 p.m., the East McKeesport officer and Coleman pulled next to one of the gas pumps at the GetGo. A minute later, the officer is seen getting out of his vehicle and approaching Coleman’s car.

Another minute passes, and the officer returns to his cruiser to run Coleman’s information, which reveals that a warrant is out for his arrest.

At 2:22 p.m., the video shows North Versailles police officers pulling into the lot, and within five seconds of that happening, Coleman takes off.

Seconds later, the officers from East McKeesport and North Versailles take off after him.

Sources told Channel 11 News that a North Versailles officer reached speeds of nearly 100 mph chasing Coleman until the crash occurred at the intersection of Route 30 and Route 49.

When Channel 11 News spoke to East McKeesport Police Chief Russ Stroschein last week, he said there was no way his officer or the North Versailles officers could have caught up to Coleman.

“By the time they got out on the highway, Coleman’s vehicle was nowhere to be seen,” he said.

Bianco said the chief’s response frustrates her.

“They should have just let him go,” she said.

Bianco also had a message for Coleman.

“He should've just stayed pulled over. He would've probably not even done a year or so, but instead (he) decided to run, and (has) taken away something I can't get back,” she said. “His family’s able to go and see him. All I have to do is visit mine at the graveyard.”

Coleman was released Tuesday from the hospital, where he had been since the crash, and was booked into jail.

He is facing three counts of homicide. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for Dec. 14.

Cox Media Group

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