Murder arrest made after man is killed with dump truck in Pa., police say
A northeastern Pennsylvania man faces homicide charges after running someone over, killing him, with a dump truck Wednesday evening in Schuylkill County, police said.
Michael Albert, 60, of Scranton, was arraigned early Thursday in the death of Mark T. Boyle and ordered held without the possibility of release on bail.
West Penn Township police said they responded to calls about the incident around 6 p.m. Wednesday in the township’s 700 block of Penn Drive (Route 443).
Albert and Boyle, 35, were having a disagreement about the cost to repair the tri-axle dump truck owned by Albert, according to court records provided to lehighvalleylive.com[1].
Police said Albert and Boyle had initially agreed to a $15,000 sum, but after the repair time was delayed, Albert asked Boyle to drop the price.
Boyle refused, police said, and he told Albert he wouldn’t release the truck until he received the full payment.
“(Albert) decided he was just going to leave without paying the bill and Boyle would just have to sue him,” the investigating officer wrote in the court records.
Albert got in the truck and attempted to drive it away, police said; Albert saw Boyle run toward him but the driver did not stop until the vehicle passed over Boyle and the driver “felt a bump.”
Boyle was pronounced dead three hours later at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest in Salisbury Township. Albert “intentionally, knowingly or recklessly caused the death of” Boyle, police wrote in charging papers.
Albert was taken into custody at the scene and arraigned before District Judge Edward Tarantelli on charges of third-degree murder, aggravated assault, homicide by vehicle, reckless endangerment and theft of services, according to court records.
A preliminary hearing was tentatively scheduled for Aug. 15 before District Judge Andrew J. Serina to determine if there is sufficient evidence to send the charges toward trial in the Schuylkill County Court of Common Pleas.
Court records were not immediately updated with an attorney for Albert.
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References
- ^ lehighvalleylive.com (www.lehighvalleylive.com)
- ^ lehighvalleylive.com (www.lehighvalleylive.com)
- ^ [email protected] (www.lehighvalleylive.com)
- ^ glenn_epps_ (twitter.com)