Geyer agrees to plead guilty to homicide by vehicle charge
A Ruffsdale man agreed to plead guilty to homicide by vehicle Monday in exchange for a three to six year prison sentence. Assistant District Attorney Phyllis A. Jin said that Michael R. Geyer agreed to the plea during his pretrial conference before Fayette County Judge Steve P. Leskinen.
Geyer, 34, is charged in the March 26 death of Robert Hyland Jr. of Fairchance. Geyer allegedly hit Hyland’s vehicle along Route 119 while Hyland was waiting at a traffic signal.
Police alleged that Hyland was stopped in the northbound lane of Route 119 and Kingview Road when Geyer, driving a GMC van, struck him in the rear.
Police estimated Geyer was traveling 64 mph in the 55 mph zone when he hit Hyland’s pickup truck. Toxicology tests indicate that Geyer’s blood-alcohol content at the time of the accident was .16 percent.
The state’s legal limit for drivers at that time was .10 percent. However, it has since been changed to .08 percent.
Leskinen will take Geyer’s plea later this month, said Jin.