Driver in Monessen crash dies

By ERIC SEIVERLING

eseiverling@yourmvi.com

A Monessen woman involved in a two-car crash Thursday on Grand Boulevard was pronounced dead two hours after the crash occurred.

According to Monessen police officer Jeffrey Smaracheck, Janet Ratica, 68, was pronounced dead upon arrival at Mon Valley Hospital at 11:35 a.m. Thursday.

The other driver involved in the crash, Valerie Rone-Osborne, 60, also of Monessen, was released from MVH and is recovering, Smaracheck said.

Police responded to the crash at 9:31 a.m. on Grand Boulevard, near the City Park walking track, and found Ratica unresponsive behind the wheel of her black Chevrolet sedan, which sustained damage to the front end.

Police say the two cars were involved in a “near head-on crash” after Ratica’s vehicle, traveling west on Grand Boulevard, crossed into oncoming traffic.

Officers on the scene were forced to cut the air bags out of Ratica’s vehicle and performed life-sustaining procedures.

Ratica and Rone-Osborne were taken to MVH in Carroll Township via ambulance.

Police are awaiting the results of blood and medical tests.

“She was wearing a seatbelt, her airbags deployed and she was driving a newer vehicle,” Smaracheck said. “The signs point to a heart attack or an aneurysm.”