Uniontown man involved in fatal crash while fleeing police pleads guilty
A driver who killed another motorist while fleeing police following a traffic stop in Uniontown pleaded guilty to all charges Tuesday, including criminal homicide and vehicular homicide.
Dominique Curtis Kitchen, 30, of Uniontown, entered the general plea before President Judge John Wagner a week before he was scheduled to go to trial in Fayette County Court, and he鈥檒l be sentenced at a later date.
Narcotics agents with the state attorney general蘑菇视频 office stopped Kitchen on Oct. 5, 2020, but he drove from the scene and crashed into a dump truck driven by Elias Nickman. The crash caused the dump truck to 鈥渟pin violently鈥� into Mike蘑菇视频 Auto parking lot, and Nickman was ejected from his vehicle. He was taken to Uniontown Hospital, where he died about an hour after the crash.
Investigators said they witnessed Kitchen selling drug on Lincoln Street and pulled him over nearby. While Kitchen initially stopped, he sped away and drove through 10 stop signs while traveling on the wrong side of the road at some points during the chase.
Police said his vehicle was speeding at 55 mph when it struck Nickman蘑菇视频 truck on Connellsville Street.
In addition to the criminal homicide and homicide by vehicle charges, Kitchen also pleaded guilty to felony counts of fleeing police and accident involving death. He also pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of involuntary manslaughter and reckless endangerment, along with a slew of traffic violations.
Kitchen蘑菇视频 public defender could not be reached for comment Wednesday. Fayette County District Attorney Rich Bower declined comment Wednesday since Kitchen has not yet been sentenced.
Kitchen has been held without bond at the Fayette County jail since his arrest. It was not known when Wagner will sentence him or what prison term he may face.