Feb 7, 2023 3 min read

A Canadian man was arrested Sunday night after state police said he was driving drunk when he struck and killed a teenage girl walking home with ice cream in Connellsville Township.

Police said Mark Lucic was driving south on East Crawford Avenue about 7:30 p.m. when he crossed the centerline and drove off the roadway near Geibel Catholic Junior-Senior High School before striking the 16-year-old girl while she walked on the berm.

He continued driving despite striking the pedestrian and sideswiping a white fence and street sign nearby, according to court documents. The victim was not named in court documents, but multiple posts on social media identified her as Bailey Lentz Veitch.

She apparently had just visited a nearby Dairy Queen since small cups of ice cream and a bag from the restaurant were found strewn around the scene. State police said she was walking back to her home in the neighborhood when she was struck by the pickup truck. She was taken to Highlands Hospital in Connellsville, where she died of her injuries Sunday night.

State police investigators were able to determine the brand and color of the pickup truck involved in the crash after reviewing nearby surveillance cameras and finding debris it left behind at the scene, prompting them to search the area. Nearly two hours after the crash, Lucic and his damaged pickup truck were located at a gas station about two miles away in Dunbar Township. In addition to the damage to the vehicle, police said melted ice cream could be seen splattered on the windshield, roof and passenger side door.

Lucic told police that he was visiting Seven Springs Resort for a work trip and had gotten lost on his way back. He stopped at the gas station when he noticed he had a flat tire, so he decided to wait overnight to get it fixed when the shop opened in the morning.

Troopers immediately noticed that Lucic was impaired and he was arrested, according to court documents. He was taken to Uniontown Hospital for testing to measure the alcohol content in his blood, although the results were not immediately available.

Lucic, 42, of Mississauga Ontario, was arraigned Monday morning on multiple felony charges, including homicide by vehicle, homicide by vehicle while DUI, aggravated assault by vehicle while DUI, accident involving death and aggravated assault by vehicle. He is being held without bond in the Fayette County jail while awaiting his preliminary hearing, which is tentatively scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Feb. 15 before District Judge Ronald Haggerty Jr.