HOPEWELL TOWNSHIP, Pa. — The Beaver County District Attorney is responding to claims made by a candidate running for his office that question who was behind the wheel of the DA’s vehicle during a crash in Hopewell in September.
Nate Bible says he was the passenger in his car, being driven by a friend on September 29, on Gringo Road in Hopewell.
“I never once thought that I’d be sitting here defending myself that I wasn’t the one driving,” Bible told Channel 11’s Andrew Havranek. “It’s a huge attack on my character; it’s a huge attack on my integrity. I’m trying not to be emotional about it, but I’m pretty fired up about it, to be honest.”
Before announcing his candidacy yesterday, John Goodman II, an Assistant District Attorney in Washington County, brought up the crash.
“I don’t know who was driving the vehicle that night, and you don’t either,” Goodman II said. “The only two people who can say for sure is Mr. Bible and his friend.”
“This is a very opportunistic cheap political shot from John Goodman, just throwing something at the wall and seeing what sticks,” Bible said.
Bible said he and his friend, Troy Kasper, were going home after a night out. Kasper was driving his car. There was a deer in front of them and Kasper swerved to avoid it and hit the guide rail. Police said Kasper’s blood alcohol content was a .174, more than twice the legal limit.
“If I knew that he was not safely capable of driving the vehicle, I never would have allowed that to happen,” Bible said.
During his campaign announcement Wednesday, Goodman II also questioned who is prosecuting the case.
Online court records list the prosecutor as Bible’s office. Bible said that’s a default for any crime in Beaver County, and the case was sent to the Attorney General’s Office more than a month ago.
“I’m a witness in this case. There’s no way my office could possibly handle the prosecution,” Bible said. “Mr. Goodman wanted to make a point of that yesterday. This case was referred to the Attorney General’s Office as soon as the charges were filed.”
Right now the case is scheduled for a hearing in December.
Bible also addressed other claims Goodman II made in a written statement, posted below.
“I am aware of the statements and video released by Mr. John Goodman II on November 4, 2026. I would first like to address the baseless claim made by Mr. Goodman that I was driving my vehicle on September 29, 2026, when it was involved in a single-car accident in Hopewell Township. To be clear, I was not operating my vehicle that morning when the accident occurred, and I would welcome any investigation to show that is the truth. If anyone has any videos from that date, please provide them to law enforcement as they will show clearly who the driver of the vehicle was. Unfortunately, a friend of mine was driving my vehicle that night. I regret the decision to let him drive even though he believed he was capable of safely driving. We both cooperated with the police at the scene without incident. The police were professional and I thank them for doing their jobs.
“Please note, I have not commented on this case because it is clear that I am a witness to what happened and cannot comment or participate in an investigation where I am a witness. The case was referred to the Attorney General’s office as soon as I was made aware that the charges were filed. Mr. Goodman points to the docket showing my office still has the case. This is the default docket entry for every criminal case in Beaver County. My office has not acted on this case in any capacity, nor will we. I cannot control when the AG’s Office accepts cases or when the file to enter their appearance. They area huge office that covers the entire Commonwealth and I am confident that it will be addressed in due time. I assure you that the referral letter has been sent and my office will not be involved.
“There was also a reference made regarding the decision by my office to prosecute the allegations regarding the tax assessor. This matter is of such importance that I will make a separate statement at the appropriate time. I have been in communication with the AG’s from the beginning and they have been involved in the discussions since the inception of the matter. There will be no conflicts with this case either.
“Mr. Goodman also made a comment that my office doesn’t care about child sex assault victims. Last week, my office convicted Jack Primmer on over 150 counts, including rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse of a juvenile, and production and possession of child pornography. As a result of his conviction he will be sentenced to mandatory life in prison. This is just one of many examples of cases where my office has fought for victims and secured the justice they deserved.
“It has been made clear by his remarks in the last few weeks that his campaign strategy is to run a smear campaign against me to try and curry favor with the voters of Beaver County. When I announce my bid for re-election in the coming weeks I will show the people of my county the incredible things we have done during my first term in office and will further lay out my plan for what I want to achieve during my second term. I had no intention of attacking Mr. Goodman, however, I will not sit idly by while my character and integrity are called into question by a man who lacks those qualities himself.
“I was quite surprised that an Anglican Priest would begin his campaign on such a negative note. That seems contrary to the beliefs he claims to hold with such conviction. But as I mentioned, when you have no accomplishments of your own, your only option is to try and bring down your opponent. Mr. Goodman has only been a lawyer for approximately three years and has been a prosecutor for an even shorter time. Mr. Goodman touts that he has handled 1,000 felony cases at the same time, yet if you check the docket in Washington County he is not listed as the attorney of record on a single case. No attorney is handling 1,000 cases at one time frame. The question that should be asked is why is he misstating his professional experience to the public.
Mr. Goodman is trying to paint my office as being corrupt and lacking integrity. What he has failed to mention is that he asked two of my assistant district attorneys to move for his admission into the Pennsylvania Bar. He would not be a lawyer in Pennsylvania if not for those employees. He specifically neglected to tell those employees that he planned to try to be their boss a year later. Further, Mr. Goodman applied for a job in my office to work as an Assistant District Attorney in April of 2025. Myself and my hiring committee found that he lacked any relevant experience. Nonetheless, I did my research on him, as I would with any candidate for an ADA position, and ultimately decided to not offer him the position.
“As my character was attacked yesterday, I felt the need to defend myself and also call into question the character of the man making the attacks. I have no intention on running my campaign in this manner, as I’d rather focus on the positives and my goals to help make Beaver County a better place. However, I will defend myself from baseless claims and cheap shots from my opponent.
“I want to sincerely thank my office for being so supportive during this time, the members of law enforcement who have reached out to me, and the community as a whole for the kind words and support you have shown. And of course, my friends, and most importantly my family, for always being by my side.”
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