Snow Shoe man charged with vehicular homicide while DUI after deadly crash
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Michael Packer, of Snow Shoe, arrested for suspected drug-impaired vehicular homicide.
- Thomas Hipple, 73, died after being struck while crossing the highway.
- Packer faces felony and misdemeanor counts; released on $250,000 unsecured bail.
A Snow Shoe man was arrested Saturday on charges that include vehicular homicide while driving under the influence after a crash that killed a pedestrian.
Michael J. Packer, 47, was under the influence of drugs when he fatally hit the man about 9:10 a.m. Aug. 11 on the 700 block of East Sycamore Road in Snow Shoe Township, state police at Rockview wrote in an affidavit of probable cause.
Packer refused to have his blood drawn at Mount Nittany Medical Center, but police said they found a pink vape with marijuana in the center console of his sedan. Troopers also cited his physical appearance, failure of all but one field sobriety tests and an evaluation conducted by a drug recognition expert.
Thomas E. “Cowboy” Hipple, 73, of Snow Shoe Township, was crossing the two-lane highway to make the short walk back to his home that is almost directly across from TP’s Coal Sales & More. A witness told police Hipple was always at the business to talk.
Troopers said Packer abruptly swerved left in an attempt to avoid Hipple, but instead hit him head on as he was near the centerline. He estimated he was driving the speed limit, which is 45 mph, on his way to work and told police he thought Hipple was going to stop and walk back across the road.
Packer was performing CPR when a trooper arrived to the scene. The officer and emergency medical services also attempted to resuscitate Hipple, but he was pronounced dead at the scene. He died of blunt force trauma.
During an interview about 15 minutes after the crash, police said Packer had glassy and bloodshot eyes, droopy eyelids and a slow, raspy voice. He denied drinking alcohol and said he uses medical marijuana and prescribed pain medication, police wrote.
Packer’s driver’s license was suspended because of a prior DUI conviction, police wrote. He was not injured in the crash. He’s also facing felony counts of vehicular homicide and accidents involving death while not licensed, as well as misdemeanor counts of DUI, obstruction and involuntary manslaughter.
No defense lawyer was listed. He was arraigned Saturday by District Judge Allen Sinclair, who released him on $250,000 unsecured bail. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for Oct. 29.
It appeared to be the first fatal pedestrian crash in the rural township since at least 2005.
Hipple was a father of three and had nine grandchildren. He attended Bald Eagle Area High School and worked as a self-employed carpenter who was known as “Mr. Fix-It” throughout the Mountaintop Region, according to his obituary.
He loved the outdoors, had a passion for working on small engines and was an avid reader of Western novels. When his wife became ill, his family said he “gave selflessly of his time and energy, never wavering in his devotion to her — a role he took on with deep love and pride.”