North Irwin fire chief charged in crash

July 24--North Irwin's fire chief is accused of leaving the scene of an accident after his truck slammed into a parked car early Saturday morning near the borough's firehall.

Glenn A. Geiger, 48, of Penn Township, was driving his Ford pickup truck at 1:22 a.m. July 21 when it allegedly struck the rear of a 2013 Cadillac owned by Andrew Ziros of Lincoln Avenue, while it was parked along Second Street, according to Irwin police, who patrol North Irwin. The accident occurred about two blocks from the firehall on Broadway Avenue.

Geiger was charged by Irwin patrolman Eric Ziska with summary offenses of careless driving, failure to notify police of an accident, failure to stop and give information, and accident damage to an unattended vehicle. He faces fines of about $720, according to the citations filed Monday before North Huntingdon District Judge Wayne Gongaware. The citations were mailed to Geiger without his signature.

Geiger declined comment Tuesday. He has been a member of the fire department for at least 29 years, according to the fire department website.

Irwin Police Chief Roger Pivirotto was at a training program Tuesday and could not be reached for comment, according to Shari Martino, Irwin assistant manager.

Ziros said Monday he was camping in Ohio over the weekend when he learned of the incident . Irwin police had left him a message on his cell phone at about 2:30 a.m. Saturday and his children had called him later that day.

"He knocked it down the street a little bit," said Ziros, picking up a piece of his car's tail light from the street. The car was parked adjacent to his house at the corner of Lincoln Avenue and Second Street.

Ziros said he had not yet obtained an estimate of the damage to his car, whose rear bumper was knocked down. The car would have to be towed to a repair shop, Ziros said, because he does not know the full extent of the damage.

"Accidents happen," Ziros said. "I'm not looking to get nobody burned. I'm just looking to get it fixed.

"Either he pays for it or else," said Ziros, who said he had yet to obtain auto insurance information from Geiger.

Joe Napsha is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Joe at 724-836-5252 or jnapsha@tribweb.com.

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