ITHACA, N.Y. (AP) - The driver of a tractor-trailer that crashed into an Ithaca restaurant last year, killing a bartender, has pleaded guilty to charges stemming from the accident.
Viacheslav Grychanyi (VEE’-ash-lahv gra-CHAHN’-yee) of Spokane, Washington, pleaded guilty in an Ithaca court to unreasonable speed, defective breaks and having an over-length vehicle.
Police say he was driving a vehicle carrier at more than 45 mph on a street in downtown Ithaca on June 20 when he plowed into Simeon’s, a popular corner bistro in the center of the upstate college town. The crash injured five people and killed bartender Amanda Bush, a 27-year-old mother from nearby Lansing.
Grychanyi pleaded guilty May 7. He was ordered to pay more than $1,900 in fines and surcharges.
Ithaca, home to Cornell University and Ithaca College, is 45 miles south of Syracuse.
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