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Retired Pittsburgh firefighter guilty in fatal hit-and-run

PITTSBURGH — A judge has found a retired Pittsburgh city firefighter guilty of causing a fatal hit-and-run accident.

Judge Jeffrey Manning found David Anderson, 65, guilty on all counts.  He will remain free on bond with electronic monitoring until he is formally sentenced in August.

Anderson struck Gregory Simpson in December 2015 at the intersection of Seabright Street and Federal Street Extension in Perry South with his pickup truck and drove off.

Simpson initially survived, but died six weeks later.

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He was getting into his car when Anderson struck him; at the time, Anderson was under the influence.

"I don't have my father anymore, but today we got what we were owed and that's justice," said Danielle Simpson, the victim's daughter.

After the judge found Anderson guilty of causing the accident that killed the Vietnam veteran, he had stern words for him.

He told Anderson his defense of there being a second vehicle that came along and killed Simpson, and his meager attempt of blaming a drunken blackout, were deliberate distractions.

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"He knew what he did and everything he did was a conscious effort to hide the truth," said Cynthia Simpson, the victim's sister. "We have to live our daily life thinking of what could have been because Mr. Anderson took away what could have been."

Manning said he based his verdict on Anderson's own actions after the hit-and-run: cutting off the truck's bumper, having his truck repaired without notifying people or insurance and his own admission to police about drinking at a bar just before the accident.

Anderson did not take the stand in his own defense and will remain free on bond as a condition, though the judge ordered him to wear electronic monitoring.

The verdict carries a mandatory minimum of three to six years.

 

Cox Media Group

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