South Hills man charged in fatal Brookline crash with cyclist
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The 23-year-old South Hills man who was driving a car involved in an October fatal crash with a cyclist in Brookline was charged with homicide by vehicle Wednesday by Pittsburgh police.
Police said Thomas Morton wasn’t licensed when he was driving a Honda Civic shortly after 9 p.m. Oct. 20 that hit a motorized bicycle operated by Austin Fike, 22, of Brookline, at the intersection of Brookline Boulevard and Pioneer Avenue.
According a witness, Fike went airborne and flipped several times when he was hit, police wrote in the criminal complaint against Morton.
Fike was transported to UPMC Mercy hospital where he died from his injuries.
Dash camera video of the crash was recorded by a witness on Pioneer Avenue and was reviewed by the city’s Collision Investigation Unit. Based upon that review, police determined Morton was at fault for the crash, according to the criminal complaint.
Morton was given field sobriety tests and a breath test that showed his blood alcohol level was .121% at 10:58 p.m., according to the complaint. The legal limit is .08%.
Morton also didn’t have a valid driver’s license, according to the complaint.
Morton turned himself in Thursday and was charged with homicide by vehicle, homicide by vehicle while intoxicated, involuntary manslaughter, drunken driving, driving without a license and other traffic violations.
An attorney for Morton and bail information wasn’t listed in court records.