CLEARFIELD – An Irvona man accused of causing a fatal ATV accident in December waived his right to a preliminary hearing Wednesday during centralized court.
Chester Melvin Miller, 23, is charged with felony counts of homicide by vehicle, aggravated assault by vehicle and failure to use safety belt, as well as misdemeanor involuntary manslaughter and several summaries in relation to the crash on Dec. 9 in Beccaria Township.
The case now moves on to the court of common pleas. His bail is set at $200,000, unsecured.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, police were dispatched to Henry’s Road in Beccaria Township in relation to a motor vehicle crash involving an all-terrain vehicle with two occupants at 7:39 a.m.
Chester Miller was determined to be the driver and the passenger, Melvin Miller, was deceased.
It was discovered that the two were working at a nearby residence when they realized they needed a nail apron that they had left at their home. They decided to take the ATV to retrieve it. The owner of the vehicle, who is also the owner of the property where they were working, told police they only had permission to operate the ATV on the property and not on the roadway.
While on route back to their residence, the ATV reportedly left the roadway, throwing the passenger from his seat and over an embankment. The ATV then landed on top of the victim.
Miller told police he was driving on the road approaching a left hand curve when the victim pointed at something along the left side of the road. The ATV entered the snow and “slipped sideways”. He said he attempted to regain control, but failed. The victim “came out of the vehicle somehow and that the ATV had landed on top of him.”
Melvin Miller’s cause of death was determined to be injuries from the crash consisting of blunt force trauma, according to the criminal complaint.
