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Man facing charges in fatal hit-and-run accident on Steubenville Pike

NORTH FAYETTE, Pa. — A man accused of fatally hitting a bicyclist on Steubenville Pike with a box truck was charged Wednesday.

Police said Zachary Chicko of New Kensington, was driving on a suspended license and did not have proper registration when he hit Brandon Ortmann last September.

According to police, Brandon Ortmann, 24, of Oakdale, was riding a bicycle westbound in the 7200 block of Steubenville Pike when he was struck by a passenger side mirror of a box truck traveling eastbound.

Ortmann was taken to Allegheny General Hospital where he later died due to his injures.%

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Witnesses said that the driver never slowed down or stopped.

Police were able to catch Chicko due to a billboard put up along the highway by Ortmann’s mother, an anonymous caller said.

“He took my son from me and it's so hard. Every day is so hard,” said Cindi Taylor, Ortmann’s mother.

Chicko first told officials that he wasn’t at the scene but later admitted he was the driver, and said that he was not aware of what he hit, got scared, and left the area. He apologized for his actions and said that he had not slept well since the accident.

Taylor said she is relived an arrest has been made, but wishes Chicko would have come forward.

“I could understand if someone had made a horrible mistake and came forward days later and was so remorseful and said, “I’m so sorry. I didn't intend for this to happen,” she said.