Mar 16, 2022 4 min read

The son of Fayette County’s district attorney will stand trial on driving under the influence charges after the state Attorney General’s office recently refiled charges in connection with a wrong-way crash on Route 119 last August.

Richard E. Bower Jr. is accused by state police of driving drunk Aug. 7 when his vehicle crossed the divided highway near Laurel Mall in Dunbar Township and crashed head-on into another vehicle, injuring that driver.

Bower Jr., 29, of Connellsville, waived to court two misdemeanor charges of driving under the influence and three summary offenses during his preliminary hearing Tuesday morning before District Judge Ronald Haggerty Jr. in Fayette County Central Court. He is the son of District Attorney Richard Bower Sr. and also a member of Fayette County’s Bureau of Investigations.

State police said Bower Jr. had a blood-alcohol level of .172% at the time of the crash, more than twice the legal limit to drive a vehicle in Pennsylvania.

Bower Jr. was originally charged Sept. 29, but questions were raised after his father appointed a Uniontown attorney to serve as special prosecutor on the case. That attorney, Samuel Davis, later dropped the driving under the influence charges and said he expected Bower Jr. would go through the county’s accelerated rehabilitative disposition, also known as ARD program, that allows for criminal charges to be expunged from a person’s record.

However, a spokeswoman for Attorney General Josh Shapiro said Bower Sr. erred in appointing a special prosecutor because the case involved a family member. The spokeswoman said Bower Sr. should have immediately recused himself and asked the Attorney General’s office to oversee the investigation, which he did Nov. 19 nearly two weeks after Davis dropped the DUI charges.

Senior Deputy Attorney General Patrick Schulte took over the investigation and refiled charges March 2 in consultation with state police.

Bower Jr. was originally scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing April 25 before District Judge Richard Kasunic II, according to online court records, but the hearing was unexpectedly moved to Tuesday morning in Central Court. His formal arraignment is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. April 21 in Fayette County Court.

Schulte said Tuesday that he agreed to changing the preliminary hearing date and expects the case to come before President Judge John Wagner, who was the only judge not to recuse himself after the original charges were filed last year.

While Bower Jr. is still eligible for ARD as the case currently stands, Schulte said the difference now is that he would face a driver’s license suspension if convicted. Investigators also looked into whether Bower Jr. should have faced more serious charges, such as aggravated assault by vehicle, but the victim’s injuries were not significant enough to warrant that, Schulte said.

“He did not suffer what the law would consider serious bodily injury,” Schulte said of the other driver’s injuries. “This falls well short for what the law considers serious bodily injury.”

That driver, Joshua Willard, 37, of Adah, suffered injuries to his eye and arm when Bower Jr.’s SUV crossed the divided highway and crashed head-on into him in the southbound lanes, heavily damaging both vehicles.

Willard was not charged initially, but he now faces one count of driving under the influence of a controlled substance after the Attorney General’s office revisited the case. Willard allegedly admitted to smoking marijuana before the crash and traces of the drug were found in his system when his blood was tested while being treated for his injuries at Uniontown Hospital, according to court documents. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for April 25 in Central Court.

Meanwhile, Bower Jr. is free on $5,000 unsecured bond. His defense attorney, David Kaiser, declined to comment on the case Tuesday afternoon.