State College man charged with DUI years after fatal hit-and-run in Penns Valley
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- Christopher C. Hort was charged with two DUI misdemeanors and two traffic citations.
- His blood alcohol level was 0.201%, about 2.5 times the 0.08% legal limit.
- Hort pleaded guilty in March 2022 to a felony count of accidents involving death.
A State College man had a blood alcohol level 2 1/2 times the legal limit for driving when he crashed his motorcycle in May, about six years after he hit and left an Amish man for dead along the shoulder of a rural highway.
Christopher C. Hort, 58, was charged Thursday with two misdemeanor counts of DUI and two summary traffic citations. His blood alcohol level was 0.201%, Ferguson Township police wrote in an affidavit of probable cause. The legal limit is 0.08%.
He is the son-in-law of late Penn State football coach Joe Paterno, as well as a facilities representative in the university’s College of the Liberal Arts, where he has worked since before he was arrested for the 2020 fatal crash. A message left Monday morning with the university was not immediately returned.
Hort crashed a 2002 Kawasaki about 9:25 p.m. May 7 on the 2000 block of Circleville Road, police wrote. An officer said Hort was attempting to move the motorcycle back onto the road when she arrived.
He smelled of alcohol, his eyes were watery and his speech was slurred and mumbled, police wrote. The officer said Hort was slow to respond to questions and appeared unsteady while standing and walking.
Hort told officers he drank a beer and a half at a local restaurant, but refused field sobriety testing and was placed under arrest for suspicion of DUI, police wrote. His blood was later drawn at Mount Nittany Medical Center.
A message left Monday with defense attorney Tony De Boef was not returned. Hort waived his preliminary hearing and his formal arraignment is scheduled for July 8.
Hort is three years removed from being released on parole after causing the April 2020 death of John David King, a 23-year-old Amish roofer from Spring Mills who was engaged to be married some seven months later.
Returning from a fishing trip, Hort hit and killed King with a 2012 Honda Pilot while driving westbound near the intersection of state Route 45 and Paradise Road in Penn Township. King, who was wearing a reflective vest and illuminated headlamp, was riding on a scooter.
Hort was not accused of being under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
Despite heavy damage to the vehicle, state police at Rockview said Hort did not stop and continued toward his State College home because he believed he sideswiped a deer and was fearful his tires might deflate.
He pleaded guilty in March 2022 to a felony count of accidents involving death. Centre County Judge Brian Marshall sentenced him four months later to 363 days to three years in the Centre County Correctional Facility.
Hort was released on parole in June 2023 after serving 335 days in jail. He received 28 days credit for “earned time” and appeared to complete his sentence in July 2025.
At Hort’s sentencing, King’s father said he was bothered by what happened after the crash and wished Hort could “repent from his evil deeds and find light in Jesus.”
“He left the scene, just left him lay there like a worthless animal,” Lloyd M. King said. “... We want to serve God because he is the truth. Satan is the father of lies. People that follow him are like his children. There’s only two ways. That’s the part that really bothers me.”
In his brief statement during the hearing, Hort apologized to King’s family and friends. De Boef said at the time that the crash was an accident.