BUTLER, PA. State trooper dies in car crash while speeding and undercover

Police said it was unlikely that the officer was responding to a call.
BUTLER, Pa. (AP) -- A state police trooper driving fast in an undercover vehicle was killed in a car crash, authorities said.
Trooper Robert Bianchin, 32, of Harmony, crashed on U.S. Route 422 in Connoquenessing Township, Butler County, about 9:20 p.m. Wednesday.
State police said Thursday afternoon they believe Bianchin, who was on-duty, may have been driving the Pontiac Firebird at a high rate of speed -- but they did not say how fast and they were still trying to determine why.
Police said they didn't immediately know whether the trooper was responding to a call, but it's unlikely because he was working a vice detail that normally doesn't require troopers to respond to emergencies or other calls.
Bianchin was thrown from the westbound vehicle after it traveled over the center line of the road, crossed the eastbound lane and hit several mailboxes and went up an embankment. The car flipped onto its roof, slid through a private yard and stopped along the southern berm of the road, police said.
A Butler County coroner's deputy pronounced Bianchin dead at the scene about 11 p.m.
Bianchin, an eight-year veteran trooper, was married and had a young child.