UPMC Doctor Charged For Deadly DUI Appears In Court

ALLEGHENY COUNTY, Pa. (WPXI) — A UPMC doctor accused of driving over the speed limit while under the influence and causing a fatal crash appeared in court for the first time Friday. Joseph Yanta is charged with causing the crash that killed his coworker in July 2022. Another UPMC doctor, Doug Rockacy, was killed in the crash on Wexford Bayne Road in Pine Township. A judge in Pittsburgh Municipal Court made it known that his kids know both the Yanta family as well as the Rockacy family and ultimately recused himself from overseeing Doctor Joseph Yanta’s preliminary hearing. According to the criminal complaint, Yanta was driving nearly 130 miles per hour when he lost control.  His Tesla went airborne and crashed into a creek.  Detectives say Rockacy was ejected from the passenger seat. People who were with Rockacy and Yanta that day said they were at a golf outing all day. Police said they went to Cenci’s Pizza in Wexford afterward, and surveillance video shows they continued to drink there.  The criminal complaint states Yanta’s blood alcohol content was a .172, an hour and a half after the crash. The new date for Yanta’s preliminary hearing is Feb. 24.