A man was killed in Union County last night after police say he was hit by a pickup truck and thrown against a utility pole.
State police say Keith Wertz was at the end of a driveway along Route 45, near Mifflinburg, when the driver of a pick-up truck veered off the road and hit him.
It happened yesterday evening as Wertz was on his way to visit a 96-year-old neighbor.
Pauline Walter says she was waiting for her friend, Keith Wertz, to walk across the road to visit her Sunday evening. That's when she heard commotion outside her house near Mifflinburg. State police say a pick-up truck hit and killed Wertz, just as he reached Walter's driveway.
"There laid his sandal. He probably had shorts on, which he does in the summer. There laid his sandal in the driveway," Walter said.
State police say a man from New Jersey was driving on Route 45 in an area known as Vicksburg. Troopers say he had four small children with him. They say the man drove off the road, and hit Wertz. The impact threw Wertz into a utility pole. Daniel Magruber says his wife was right across the road when it happened.
"She heard this thud and she said this truck was going down the road, then it turned around and came back. She came in and said I think somebody hit somebody out there," Magruber said.
There is no word whether or not speed played a role in the crash, but people who live along Route 45 in Vicksburg say people drive through here a lot faster than the 40 mph speed limit.
"There are a lot of people who drive through here and speed through this area of Vicksburg. This is uncalled for," Magruber said.
State police are investigating why the man from New Jersey drove off the road. Pauline Walter would like to know the same thing.
"I don't know why the car was over quite as far as it was," Walter said.
No charges have been filed against the driver of the pickup truck, but the Union County district attorney says the crash near Mifflinburg is still under investigation.