Driver who killed man was drunk, police say

By Marcia Moore
The Daily Item

April 21, 2009 06:06 am

— MIDDLEBURG -- A New Columbia man told police he had spent 2½ hours at a Snyder County tavern before getting behind the wheel of his pickup truck the night he caused a crash that claimed the life of a 44-year-old Middleburg man.
Myron C. Myers, 33, was arraigned Monday on felony homicide by vehicle while under the influence of alcohol and related charges for an April 1 crash that killed Steven A. Walter.
Myers was northbound on the Middleburg-New Berlin Highway, about one mile north of Route 104 in Franklin Township, Snyder County, when he lost control of his 2003 Chevrolet Silverado and veered head-on into the path of Walter's 1997 Ford Escort.
Neither driver was wearing a seat belt, and Water was using a cell phone at the time of the crash, the complaint said.
His fiancee, Fran Hummel, said Walter called her on his cell phone as he drove home from work.
"He told me he was tired, so I told him to put down the phone and we'd talk when he got home," she said.
Before the call ended, Hummel said, the vehicles collided.
"I heard Steve gasp," she said.
Her grief turned to anger when she heard reports that Myers may have been drunk behind the wheel.
Hummel is no stranger to tragedy.
In 2005, her husband, Wayne, died of cancer, ending a relationship she'd had since the age of 14.
She began dating Walter three years ago. They were living and raising five dogs together, planning a wedding and preparing to move to a new home.
"Now that's not going to happen," Hummel said sadly.
Walter was pronounced dead at the crash site.
David Sawicki, a state police trooper stationed at Selingrove, said he arrived at the scene about 15 minutes after the accident and saw Myers' damaged pickup truck on its roof in the southbound lane, the criminal complaint said.
The trooper spoke with Myers as he was being treated in the ambulance and observed his bloodshot eyes and slurred speech, the complaint said.
Myers told Sawicki that he had been at Shade Mountain Inn for about 2 1/2 hours prior to the accident and was on his way home.
Police said a subsequent test determined Myers' blood-alcohol level was above the legal limit, at 0.125 percent.
Myers was arraigned by District Judge Willis E. Savidge on charges of homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence, homicide by vehicle, driving under the influence of alcohol and related traffic offenses.
He is free on $25,000 unsecured bail pending a preliminary hearing.