North Allegheny grad killed in pedestrian accident at Penn State

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — A Penn State student from Wexford was killed Monday night in a pedestrian accident in State College.

According to State College police, 23-year-old Michael Eiben, of Wexford, was crossing an intersection at North Atherton Street and Curtin Road just before 11 p.m. when he was struck by a vehicle.

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Eiben was transported to the Mount Nittany Medical Center and then life-flighted to Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, where he was pronounced dead.

According to State College police, the vehicle that struck Eiben was driven by a 27-year-old State College resident.

The accident remains under investigation. However, police have ruled out alcohol as a cause and the driver of the vehicle has not been charged.

On most weekday mornings, thousands of cars fill North Atherton Street, and even though the amount of drivers has decreased in recent years, the death rate is on the rise.

Eiben is the third person who was killed in a little over one year.

Police say they’re monitoring the street with surveillance cameras.

“We get peaks and valleys in these type of crashes,” said State College Police Lt. Keith Robb. “Some years we have none and some years we have several. There is no rhyme or reason.”

According to Onward State, Eiben was a 2010 graduate of North Allegheny High School.

Eiben was working toward his master’s thesis in a five-year engineering program, Penn State spokeswoman Lisa Powers said in an email to Channel 11.

“On behalf of the Penn State family, our heartfelt condolences go out to Michael’s friends and family. Our thoughts and prayers are with them,” Powers wrote. “There are many who are deeply saddened by news of this tragic accident.”

WPXI