Pa. officer’s widow files wrongful death suit in wrong-way crash

GREENSBURG, Pa. (AP) — The widow of a western Pennsylvania police officer killed in a wrong-way crash has filed a wrongful death lawsuit in the accident.

Mary Beth Eslary has sued Clair Fink III, 32, of Ligonier, the driver charged with third-degree murder and other crimes for allegedly driving drunk in the wrong direction and causing the crash on May 5, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported. Her husband, Ligonier Township police Lt. Eric Eslary, 40, was killed instantly.

She’s also suing Fink’s former employer, Westmoreland Poos and Spas Inc., of North Huntingdon, and the Beehive Show Bard Inc., in Salem Township. That’s because Fink’s co-worker has told police that both men drank beer, and that Fink was visibly intoxicated when he left the strip bar, in the hours before the crash on U.S. Route 30.