A Lower Burrell woman is being charged with DUI and causing serious injuries to multiple passengers following a crash that occurred in August of this year. According to WPXI, authorities responded to an incident where Grisell Hernandez, 22, drove her vehicle over a hillside on Edgecliff Road, resulting in the vehicle overturning and entrapping several individuals.
The crash led to severe injuries, including a pregnant woman who had to be flown to a hospital in the Pittsburgh area for emergency treatment. In a harrowing account of the crash's impact, this woman sustained multiple fractures, a scalp laceration, and cervical spine injuries severe enough to risk her ability to walk permanently. A second passenger was also hospitalized with undisclosed injuries. According to WTAE, the vehicle was reported to be travelling at dangerously high speeds moments before the accident — rapidly slowing from 90 to 68 miles per hour just before impact.
Officers at the scene described Hernandez as having bloodshot and glassy eyes, with a smell of alcohol on her breath. Subsequent lab results confirmed a blood alcohol content of .182 and positive results for THC in her system. Found outside the vehicle, Hernandez is facing grave charges, as disclosed by investigators. She is scheduled to appear in court come February.
Grisell Hernandez's history of legal troubles compounds the seriousness of this incident, with other pending cases involving DUI-related charges and possession of marijuana, as reported. The decision to operate a vehicle under the influence has once again, tragically, proven to potentially change lives in irrevocable ways. The full details of the case will continue to unfold as Hernandez approaches her preliminary hearing in the new year, with the legal system set to determine her fate.
