Spokane trucker pleads guilty in fatal crash into restaurant

ITHACA, N.Y. — 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 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.