State police charge East Springfield man in Ridge Road crash that killed motorcyclist
A West Springfield man had just hit a deer with his motorcycle in Springfield Township and was waiting along the roadside for a ride on the early morning of June 8 when Pennsylvania State Police investigators said he was struck by van and killed.
An East Springfield man accused of driving the van is now facing criminal charges in the accident.
State police on Thursday filed charges including a third-degree felony count of accidents involving death or personal injury and three misdemeanor counts of driving under the influence against 26-year-old Austin L. Howard in the death of Curtis Duncan, 41.
Springfield Township District Judge Jeff Gadley arraigned Howard on the charges on Friday afternoon and released him on $200,000 unsecured bond.
More: Springfield man killed in hit-and-run, suspect located
The accident was reported on June 8 at about 12:41 a.m. in the 13500 block of Ridge Road in Springfield Township. According to state police in Girard, troopers were called to the area to investigate a reported single-vehicle motorcycle crash with an unresponsive male, and learned on their way to the scene that the accident also reportedly involved a van that fled the scene.
Troopers determined the accident involved two crashes, according to information in Howard's criminal complaint. The first involved Duncan's motorcycle striking a deer, with the motorcycle coming to rest in the westbound lane of Ridge Road. The second occurred when a vehicle left the north side of the roadway to avoid the motorcycle and struck Duncan, investigators wrote in the complaint.
Police spoke to witnesses who said that after Duncan's body was discovered by the witnesses and the driver of the van, the van driver fled heading east on Ridge Road, according to information in the complaint's affidavit of probable cause.
A member of the Springfield Township Volunteer Fire Department found a fluid trail at the accident scene and followed it to a driveway on West Lake Road. Troopers went to the residence and said they found the minivan that fled from the crash. Police then made contact with Howard, who was taken to the Girard station for an interview, according to the affidavit.
Investigators wrote that Howard confirmed that he was the driver of the minivan. He also consented to chemical testing of his blood, and he admitted to using marijuana, Xanax and methamphetamine, according to information in the affidavit.
The chemical testing found levels of methamphetamine and amphetamine in Howard, police wrote in the affidavit.
Howard is tentatively scheduled to appear in court for his preliminary hearing on May 28.
Other fatal crashes from 2023 under investigation
The accident that killed Duncan was one of a number of fatal motor vehicle crashes in the Erie area last year. Among the crashes that remain under investigation by police and the Erie County District Attorney's Office are:
A multi-vehicle crash in an Interstate 90 construction zone in Girard Township on May 23 that caused the death of a 10-year-old boy.
A car-motorcycle crash on Edinboro Road in Washington Township on Aug. 19 that caused the death of motorcyclist Dustin Koszarek, 30, of Erie.
A three-vehicle crash along Route 97 in LeBoeuf Township on Dec. 17 that caused the death of Ethan Johnson, 24, of Titusville.
Police and prosecutors said Monday that, following their investigation into a fatal car-motorcycle crash at East 36th Street and Pine Avenue on Nov. 3, it was determined that no criminal charges were warranted in the accident. Motorcyclist Robert Peterson, 26, of Waterford, died after his motorcycle collided with a Mazda sport-utility vehicle driven by an 89-year-old man, according to Erie police.
Contact Tim Hahn at thahn@timesnews.com. Follow him on X @ETNhahn.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: East Springfield man charged in June crash that killed motorcyclist
