Area solicitor OK after scary crash

By KRISTIE LINDEN

klinden@yourmvi.com

Steve Toprani is glad his son chose to ride the school bus Thursday morning.

Otherwise, Will Toprani, 11, might well have been with his dad, a well-known Mon Valley area solicitor and former Washington County district attorney, when he was in a rollover crash in Monongahela about 7:25 a.m.

“My 11-year-old was supposed to be with me today, but he’s at the age where he wants to ride the bus with his buddies,” Toprani said. “I’m so grateful he was not in the vehicle.”

Toprani was driving his Jeep Grand Cherokee down Chess Street when an 84-year-old man driving a Honda CRV came through the intersection at 12th Street without stopping at the stop sign.

“He didn’t see the stop sign and he drilled me,” Toprani said. “I could see the driver not stopping, I clenched and braced for impact. I just remember thinking, ‘don’t flip,’ but I knew what was going to happen.”

The Jeep spun around, flipped and rolled onto its roof.  

“I always try to be very calm in situations, but I couldn’t figure out at first if I was on my roof or not.”

Toprani was wearing his seatbelt and realized he was still in his restraint, hanging upside down. 

The OnStar application in his vehicle alerted and asked him questions and initially he was disoriented, thinking Will was with him. 

“My first thought was of him. I reached over to him trying to find the passenger side,” Toprani said.

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