After driver crashes into field party crowd, injuring 3, police urge witnesses to come forward

After the driver of a pickup truck crashed into a crowd at a field party in Washington County, injuring three people, investigators are urging witnesses to come forward. 

The Smith Township Police Department said just after 2:20 a.m. on July 25, the driver of a red Ford Ranger struck three people gathered at a party in a field off Creek Road. 

Ayla Reynolds, 19, was one of the three people injured during the party in Smith Township. As her family prays for her recovery, police believe the key to this investigation is finding the people who were there.

"It's our worst nightmare," the victim's grandmother, Rebecca Reynolds, said. "I wish I could wake up from it."

Reynolds, a recent West Allegheny High School graduate, is in "very, very critical" condition, according to her grandmother. 

"At first, they didn't know if she'd even make it," she said. "Now, they're saying there's some hope. If they can get her lungs cleared, there's some hope. But they're going to have to take her leg."

According to Rebecca Reynolds, the 19-year-old suffered multiple spinal and pelvic fractures, a broken sternum, internal bleeding and a shattered right leg doctors believe she may lose below the knee. During surgery, her lungs failed, forcing doctors to place her on life support, her family said. 

Rebecca Reynolds said Ayla Reynolds can respond by blinking, raising her eyebrows and squeezing hands as doctors continue treating her extensive injuries.

While Ayla fights for her life, investigators are trying to determine exactly what led to the crash. Her grandmother says the 19-year-old driver had been taking other teenagers up and down the steep hill before he lost control.

"Ayla and her friends were standing at the top of the field and he had come up across the hill and into the field and lost control and hit into them," Rebecca Reynolds said. "She was hit by the middle of the truck, pushed up the truck and dragged."

Rebecca Reynolds said the driver immediately picked Ayla Reynolds up, placed her in his truck, and rushed her to the hospital. Police say the driver was also attending the party. 

Investigators have identified everyone involved but have not released any specific details, including whether the driver will face charges.

"It was an accident," Rebecca Reynolds said. "He's 19 years old. I can't blame him. Accidents happen."

Police here are urging anyone who was at that party to come forward, saying those witnesses could provide the answers that move this investigation forward.