Texas trucker returns home after hit-and-run guilty plea

A Texas truck driver was scheduled to jet home Monday night to Dallas after serving nearly 16 months in the Westmoreland County Prison for a hit-and-run crash in the parking lot of a Hempfield auto parts store.

Quantae M. Beavers, 26, pleaded guilty to charges of aggravated assault, simple assault, reckless endangerment and other offenses in connection with the Nov. 30, 2022, incident in which police said he ran over a man following a confrontation.

According to court records, Beavers drove a box truck and claimed he became lost as he traveled along Mt. Thor Road. He said he was unable to proceed through an underpass, reversed course and crashed into a gate as he attempted to turn around in the parking lot of ABC Auto Parts.

Police said a man, described in a related lawsuit as a store customer, approached the truck and attempted to obtain information from the driver. Beavers refused to comply and struck the customer with the truck and drove over him as he fled the area.

The victim, according to his lawsuit filed against Lowes Home Center, Texas Delivery Service and Beavers, sustained fractures to his leg, ankle and back, underwent three surgeries and had an extensive hospital stay. The lawsuit, filed in Westmoreland County, is pending.

Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Echard said the victim signed off on a plea deal in which prosecutors dropped one of two aggravated assault charges against Beavers.

Beavers, who according to prosecutors has no prior criminal record, had been in jail since his arrest Oakdale, Allegheny County, hours after the incident and was being held in lieu of a $100,000 bond. Common Pleas Court Judge Tim Krieger sentenced Beavers on Monday to nine to 18 months in jail, gave him credit for time served while awaiting disposition of his case and was paroled.

Defense Attorney Brian Aston said Beavers’ family purchased a plane ticket for him to fly home to Texas Monday night.

“They arranged for an Uber to pick him up at the jail and drive him to the airport,” Aston said.