A.M.BRIEFING: Tuesday

Man acquitted of DUI for lack of evidence

A Bellefonte man was acquitted Monday of DUI after a jury found there wasn’t enough evidence he was the person driving a truck that hit the side of a Snydertown family’s trailer around 8:30 p.m. Nov. 22.

All through the one-day trial in front of Judge Pamela Ruest, Jeffrey A. Hockenberry’s attorney explained to jurors that it was more likely that Hockenberry’s neighbor, Brian Lowery Jr., was driving.

First Assistant Public Defender Deb Lux said Lowery was “highly motivated, when police showed up, to point the finger” because he already had a pending DUI charge.

Prosecutor Yvette Willson said several witnesses saw Hockenberry, 38, in the driver’s seat, and Lowery testified he gave Hockenberry the keys to his truck when they left the bar that night.

“He’s continuing to refuse responsibility,” she told jurors.

The jury deliberated less than a half-hour before returning a not-guilty verdict.

Motorcyclist hurt in crash suspected of DUI

A Port Matilda man who was hospitalized with moderate injuries after crashing his motorcycle on a curve of state Route 3023 is suspected of driving drunk, state police say.

Ricky G. Woodring, 55, was taken to Mount Nittany Medical Center after suffering “abrasions and lacerations to his extremities,” when he crashed around 7:30 p.m., police said.

He had lost control of his bike, skidded onto his side, and hit an embankment about 66 feet east of Stine Lane, police said. Woodring was wearing a helmet, police said.

Man found dead in vehicle; foul play unlikely

Police are investigating the death of a 48-year-old Loganton man found dead in his vehicle in Rush Township, but they say they don’t suspect foul play.

Frank E. Johnson Jr. was found Saturday in a pull-off area of state Route 350 in Rush Township, police said.

An autopsy was conducted, but no cause of death was found. Results are now pending a toxicology report, police said.

Two injured in vehicle collision

Two people suffered minor injuries when a 1999 Volvo V70XC collided with a 1984 Honda Gold Wing motorcycle at about 5:22 p.m. Sunday at 303 Hublersburg Road in Walker Township. According to state police, Cathy Techmanski- Hoffman, 59, of Bellefonte, was driving the Volvo east on Hublersburg Road and Rickie Snyder, 53, of Howard, was driving the Honda west on the road with a 17-year-old female passenger from Rebersburg.

Techmanski-Hoffman turned left to enter a driveway, crossing the westbound lane in front of Snyder and the motorcycle struck the front of the station wagon, police said. The passenger came off the motorcycle and landed on the car’s hood and windshield before rolling onto the ground.

Snyder and his passenger were both wearing helmets, police said. They were taken to Mount Nittany Medical Center for treatment of what police characterized as minor injuries.

Techmanski-Hoffman was cited for vehicles turning left.