Former Marine killed when car crashes into East Hills store

PITTSBURGH — A former Marine who served in Afghanistan died early Thursday when a car crashed into an East Hills convenience store.

Emergency crews were called shortly after 3 a.m. to the 8300 block of Frankstown Avenue.

Leon Spearman III, 28, was the only person in the car. He was not wearing a seat belt and was pronounced dead at the scene. %

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Police said the car was traveling outbound on Frankstown Avenue at a high rate of speed when Spearman lost control near Dornbush Street, ran over a curb and struck a telephone pole. The vehicle flipped and the passenger side of the vehicle hit the building.

One neighbor told Channel 11 News that he heard another car involved in the crash, but when he came outside, only Spearman's overturned car was there.

"I called him my family,” Chet Gapczynski said about Spearman.

Gapczynski, a Marine sergeant who served with Spearman in Afghanistan from 2011 to 2012, spoke about the time he spent with Spearman.

"He helped me out a lot in my Marine Corps career, and I don't think I would have had the success as well as dozens of others Marines that were under his leadership when we first got to the unit,” he said.

Spearman left the military in 2015 and came back to Pittsburgh and worked as a union carpenter for Nello Development Group.

Police said their investigation continues. Meanwhile, Spearman's friends share stories to keep his memory alive.

"He cared more about other people than his own happiness at times, and I thought that's what made him a very, very good man,” Gapczynski said.

Cox Media Group