Police: Man dies in Route 28 crash after appearing to jump from moving vehicle
A man who police believe jumped from a moving vehicle was struck and killed along Route 28 in a multi-vehicle crash Tuesday morning.
The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s office identified the victim as Connell Nihei, 50, of Pittsburgh.
The crash near Etna was reported shortly before 7 a.m., according to Allegheny County Police, and shut down the northbound lanes of the highway for several hours. Authorities said it appears that Nihei jumped from a vehicle and then was struck by another vehicle.
He died at the scene.
Everyone involved in the incident remained at the scene and is cooperating with the investigation, police said.
The roadway was reopened around 10:40 a.m., according to PennDOT spokesman Steve Cowan. Both northbound lanes of Route 28 had been closed between Exit 4 (Butler Street) and Exit 5 (Route 8).
Patrick Varine is a TribLive reporter covering Delmont, Export and Murrysville. He is a Western Pennsylvania native and joined the Trib in 2010 after working as a reporter and editor with the former Dover Post Co. in Delaware. He can be reached at pvarine@triblive.com.
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