KYLERTOWN – A Julian man is facing homicide by vehicle charges in connection with a fatal crash in Bradford Township in October.
Steven A. Hunt, 27, was also charged by state police on Tuesday with two counts each of aggravated assault by vehicle, accidents involving death or injury while not licensed, and recklessly endangering another person, as well as several traffic summaries.
According to the affidavit filed with District Magistrate Jerry Nevling’s office, a vehicle operated by Hunt was traveling on the Philipsburg-Bigler Highway on Oct. 14 when the traffic in front of him slowed down.
Hunt reportedly told police that he swerved into the other lane to avoid hitting the vehicle in front of him and instead struck a vehicle in the other lane. He said he was only going 45 miles per hour.
The operator of the other vehicle and the passenger were entrapped when police arrived on the scene.
A witness who was traveling ahead of Hunt’s vehicle told investigators traffic slowed for a commercial vehicle that was going to stop at the railroad tracks.
He said he noticed in his rearview mirror that Hunt’s vehicle was approaching quickly. First it swerved to the right toward the guardrails and then into the other lane where he saw it impact the second vehicle, he reported.
The Ohio couple in the second vehicle were extricated and transported by helicopter to UPMC Hospital in Altoona with serious injuries.
When he was questioned by police, the driver of the second car, Robert Mravetz, said he remembered traveling toward State College at about 55 miles per hour. He said: “it seemed like a black shield came at him,” which he believed was his airbag deploying. Next, he remembered going down an embankment and coming to rest against a tree.
His wife, Cheryl Elaine Mravetz, 74, died the next day from “multi-system trauma”, according to a coroner’s report.
Police were able to obtain video footage of the crash from a commercial truck that was a few cars behind the other vehicles when the crash happened.
It confirmed what the witness and others had stated, that Hunt’s vehicle traveled into the other lane where it impacted the second vehicle.
It was noted in the criminal complaint that at the time of the accident, Hunt’s driver’s license was suspended, his vehicle’s registration had expired and he had no car insurance.
Hunt’s preliminary hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, April 27.