State Police Take Charge in Pedestrian-Crash Probe

State police are now leading the investigation into the Sunday pedestrian crash in downtown State College, authorities confirmed Tuesday.

Borough police requested that Hollidaysburg-based state police take the lead because the Beaver Avenue wreck involved a State College police sergeant, state police Cpl. David Roland said. He said it’s typical for municipal police agencies to seek outside assistance in cases that directly involve local officers.

‘State College (police) have been very forthcoming’ and cooperative in the investigation, said Roland, an accident reconstructionist. He is assembling a full reconstruction of the Sunday crash, a process that he said he could take several weeks.

‘I really don’t want to speculate (about the crash details) until I have the reconstruction complete,’ Roland said.

The collision happened at 1:42 a.m. Sunday, when Kevin R. Ignatuk, 21, of Thornton, crossed into the path of a borough police vehicle on East Beaver Avenue, according to initial police reports. It happened on the 400 block, near the Beaver Terrace apartment tower.

Ignatuk, a Penn State student, rolled up onto the hood of the Chevrolet Tahoe, then fell to the ground, police said. He suffered visible head and leg injuries.

He was taken to Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, where he remained in critical condition earlier today.

The investigation has found that Ignatuk was legally intoxicated when the collision happened, Roland said. Exact blood-alcohol-test results have not been released.

Borough police Sgt. Bill Muse, who was driving the Tahoe, has told investigators that he ‘had no time to react’ when Ignatuk crossed into his path, according to the police report. He estimated he was driving about 30 mph to 35 mph at the time.

The speed limit on that stretch of Beaver Avenue is 25 mph. Roland said it’s too early to say whether speed was a factor in causing the crash.

A witness, Sara Norseen, said it wasn’t clear whether Ignatuk noticed the Tahoe approaching. She said it was an especially rainy night.

‘The weather definitely played a big role in the vehicle’s ability to stop,’ Norseen said. She said it was obvious that Muse stopped ‘as fast as he could.’

Norseen saw the Tahoe’s brake lights illuminate, and her boyfriend recalls hearing its brakes squeal, she said.

‘It was just a bad-timing situation,’ she said. ‘I would not put anyone necessarily at fault. Just the timing of each individual led to the circumstances.’

Return to StateCollege.com for ongoing coverage of the crash investigation. Earlier coverage is posted here: Student Hurt in Sunday Crash Had Been Drinking, Police Say