Hickory man killed in motorcycle wreck after fleeing police
A Hickory man was killed in a crash early Thursday after fleeing on his motorcycle from a state police traffic stop in Mt. Pleasant Township.
Christopher Novick, 46, of Elm Road, was pronounced dead in the emergency room of Canonsburg Hospital.
State police spotted Novick driving north on Route 18 near Red Fox Road at a high speed about 1:25 a.m. The trooper tried to stop him for a traffic violation, but Novick fled.
The pursuit went on several side roads before Novick again headed north on Route 18. He turned east onto Route 50 before turning south on Pleasant Road, continuing at a high speed.
The trooper lost sight of Novick because of the terrain and the speed of the motorcycle. After losing sight of the motorcycle, the trooper retraced the path and found debris along the side of the road and saw a light in a wooded area. State police and Mt. Pleasant police searched the woods and found Novick. He was transported to the hospital.
Court documents show Novick had several convictions for drunk driving in Washington County as well as in Allegheny and Erie counties.
Novick pleaded guilty to charges including homicide by vehicle, driving under the influence of alcohol, careless driving, driving too fast for conditions and not using a seat belt in connection with a Jan. 24, 1991, crash on Route 18 near Gretna Road in Chartiers Township that killed his passenger, 19-year-old Daniel Adam Wise of Washington.
Wise had been ejected from the car when it crashed. Police said the car went off the road, became airborne, hit a pole and flipped onto its driver’s side before hitting a culvert and flipping back onto its wheels.
Novick, who was 21 at the time, had a blood-alcohol content of 0.18, which was almost double the 0.10 limit that was in effect at the time.
Novick’s defense attorney told then-President Judge Thomas D. Gladden during the Feb. 21, 1992, plea that his client and Wise were best friends. Gladden expressed concern that it was Novick’s second DUI arrest.
Alcohol also is believed to have been a factor in Thursday’s crash.
The cause of death is pending an autopsy. The accident remains under investigation.
Novick was the 15th person killed on Washington County roads this year.