Westmoreland County

Man charged in 2021 accident that killed woman, critically injured her husband in Hempfield Township

HEMPFIELD TOWNSHIP, Pa. — It has been over a year since a Westmoreland County wife and mother was killed in a violent crash on Route 136 in Hempfield Township.

State police filed charges against the driver accused of hitting her and her husband.

Ronald Jaffre, of Arona, is facing homicide by vehicle while DUI for allegedly causing the accident that took the life of Joann Wardezak.

”At least, maybe they can look at this as the start of the grieving period, or maybe the conclusion of a grieving period, where this horrific thing that happened — at least someone can be held accountable for it,” state trooper Steve Limani said.

Police said Jaffre had a blood alcohol level of .14 — nearly two times the legal limit.

”There was definitely some indicators of alcohol, so we did a field sobriety test at the time, and we got lab results back that showed the operator, Mr. Jaffre, was significantly over the level that’s acceptable,” Limani said.

Jaffre crossed the center line and slammed into the Wardezaks’ vehicle, according to investigators and reconstruction reports.

The accident took the life of Joann Wardezak and critically injured her husband last April.

When it comes to serious and traumatic crashes like this one, investigators said determining what happened takes time and attention.

”You don’t want to rely purely on people’s statements on how the crash took place, so we do an in-depth accident reconstruction, anytime there’s a possibility of prosecution, and in case of a homicide, and those investigations are extremely detailed,” Limani said.

There is an arrest warrant for Jaffre.

We tried reaching out to the victim’s family but did not hear back.