INDUSTRY, Pa. — An arrest has been made in a November hit-and-run that killed a man in Industry, Beaver County, Pennsylvania State Police said Wednesday.
The accident on Route 68 killed 25-year-old Brandon Bixler, who was walking home in the early morning hours of Nov. 27. His body was found by someone who was driving home from work, according to police.
“If you knew Brandon, you loved Brandon. He worked for J. Young. Everybody knew him. He was an outstanding guy,” said friend Jackson Grim.
Investigators had said they were searching for a 2001-2003 Honda Civic with a white or light-colored bumper.
learned a coincidence may have led police to a suspect.
Martin spoke with Randy Cox, who was jumping a car on Ridgemont Drive Tuesday, and asked the owner of the blue Eclipse whether it was for sale. While walking to the owner’s home, he noticed a white Honda Civic with front wheel and bumper damage matching the description of the vehicle involved in the hit-and-run. That information stuck in Cox’s head since his son knew Bixler.
Cox called police and they arrested William Aeschbacher.
According to a criminal complaint, Aeschbacher, 62, admitted to striking a dark object, but told police he didn’t know what it was. He told investigators he circled back around and saw it was a person, but instead of stopping or calling police, he drove home and didn’t tell anyone.
“It makes us happy,” said Grim. “It makes his family happy that we got closure. I hate that it’s a month later, but we’re still happy that we got closure on it.”
Aeschbacher is charged with accident involving death. Charges of tampering with evidence and obstruction are pending, police said.
He allegedly told police he was having physical and emotional issues regarding the crash, but didn’t tell anyone what happened. He’s due in court in January.
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