BY BRENDAN GIBBONS
Times-Shamrock Writer

Six months later, state police are still piecing together the crash that killed Staff Sgt. Andrew Stevens.

The Susquehanna County Marine, husband and father of two was crushed between two gas industry water tanker trucks Jan. 2 at Springville Twp.’s single stoplight. He would have turned 28 in June.

Although state police have worked to reconstruct what happened that day, they are still investigating why the truck driven by Arlan Elmer Elvis Taft of Tioga did not stop.

Taft drove for Mansfield-based Canyon Environmental LLC. No charges have been filed against him.

The crash began at 4:21 p.m. that Thursday, when Taft’s 2006 International 5900i water truck was traveling west downhill on Route 3004 toward the intersection with Route 29, according to an initial Feb. 5 state police crash report obtained by The Sunday Times.

The road was dry that day, according to the crash report.

A witness told state police he saw Staff Sgt. Stevens’ Dodge Durango stopped behind two water trucks ahead of him at the intersection.

The witness also saw Taft’s truck about 100 to 200 feet behind Staff Sgt. Stevens, with “smoke rolling out from underneath” as if the truck was under heavy braking. He knew Taft would not be able to stop in time, he told police.

Taft’s truck smashed into the Durango, entangling the two vehicles. Both caught fire. Staff Sgt. Stevens died of multiple traumatic injuries, the Susquehanna County coroner told police.

Taft tested negative for drugs and alcohol.

A second witness was driving about 100 feet behind Mr. Taft. He told police he did not see any brake lights or skid marks before the crash. He estimated Taft was traveling about 25 to 30 mph.

Ten days after the crash, a Canyon Environmental employee provided a GPS tracker to the state police that records speed, hard braking, acceleration, turns and idling. Its last log showed Taft’s truck at 32 mph about 550 feet east of Staff Sgt. Stevens.

Three troopers and a civilian motor carrier enforcement officer conducted a damage identification and mechanical inspection of Taft’s and Stevens’ vehicles five days after the crash, the report states. A state police fire marshal also investigated the cause and origin of the fire. Their supplemental reports are not available.

Last week, Staff Sgt. Stevens’ wife, Katy Stevens, 27, returned from Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, where the couple lived, to place his headstone at Lynn Cemetery in Susquehanna County.

The elegant piece of black stone reserves a place for her. It simply lists her name and birthdate, “Katherine. Feb. 7, 1988.”

“We always talked about both being buried there,” she said last week. “We’ve known each other for so long that I knew if anything did happen, I knew I wanted to be there with him.”

They have known each other since elementary school. The couple’s parents live only a few miles apart in the small community. They started dating the day after he came home from Iraq in 2007.

Staff Sgt. Stevens joined the Marines in 2005 and completed two combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, receiving 11 medals and commendations. He also served as an embassy guard and as a drill instructor at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego.

“He loved the Marine Corps; it was definitely his life,” Kathy said. “He always wanted to be a drill instructor. That was his dream job, and he got to do that for two years.”

They have two children — Hunter, 5, and Logan, 2. While Hunter has taken his father’s death “really rough,” Logan still does not understand, Kathy said. “He’s always asking, ‘Where’s daddy?’ and pointing at pictures,” she said.

The incident has also taken a toll on Taft, according his wife, Tina. He cries often and does not sleep well, she said.

The 58-year-old has continued working for the same employer but refuses to get back in a truck, haunted by images of the crash and inferno, she said.

“I’m kind of scared about what’s going to happen because nothing’s been solved and it’s up in the air,” she said.