A Centre County man was charged on Saturday with homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence for a crash that killed a pedestrian this summer in Snow Shoe Township.
Michael J. Packer, 47, of Snow Shoe, was under the influence of drugs on the morning of Aug. 11 when he struck 73-year-old Thomas E. Hipple on the 700 block of East Sycamore Road, state police at Rockview wrote in an affidavit of probable cause.
Packer was driving a 2016 Hyundai Accent eastbound on his way to work just after 9 a.m. when he saw Hipple in the roadway as he walked across the double yellow line, according to the affidavit. He told police that he was traveling at approximately 40 to 45 mph and he expected Hipple would turn back in the other direction.
When Hipple did not turn back, Packer hit his brakes and swerved to avoid him, but Hipple stepped back into his path, he told police. Hipple went onto the hood of the car, hit the windshield and was thrown off onto the road, a crash reconstruction team reported.
A witness told police that Hipple had been at TP Coal Sales, where he often went to talk, and was walking back to his property across the street at the time of the crash.
Packer, who police said had been driving with a suspended license, was performing CPR on Hipple when a state trooper arrived on the scene. The trooper continued performing CPR until EMS arrived and took over life-saving measures, but a Centre County deputy coroner ultimately pronounced Hipple dead at the scene about an hour after the crash. An autopsy concluded he died of blunt force trauma.
During an interview at the scene, Packer had “glassy, bloodshot eyes, droopy eyelids and a slow raspy voice,” police wrote. He told a trooper that he uses medical marijuana and is prescribed pain medication for previous injuries, according to the affidavit.
After Packer showed signs of impairment during field sobriety tests, a state police drug recognition expert’s evaluation determined he was under the influence at the time of crash, according to the affidavit.
He was taken to Mount Nittany Medical Center and refused to submit to a blood draw, police wrote.
Troopers searched Packer’s vehicle and found a THC vape pen in the center console, according to the affidavit.
In addition to homicide by vehicle while DUI, Packer is also charged with felony counts of vehicular homicide and acting with negligence in an accident involving death while not licensed to drive, misdemeanor counts of involuntary manslaughter, DUI and obstruction and eight summary vehicle code offenses.
He was arraigned on Saturday night by District Judge Allen Sinclair and released on $250,000 unsecured bail.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Oct. 29.
