New Kensington man gets prison for hit-and-run that killed bicyclist

Cynthia Taylor recalled driving for miles and miles, day after day.

She drove the streets of unfamiliar towns across Allegheny County and elsewhere, checking driveways and watching for the white truck that struck and killed her son.

She spent months searching for the truck that investigators ultimately determined was driven by Zachary Chicko of New Kensington on the night of Sept. 18, 2015.

That's when 24-year-old Brandon Ortmann was struck and killed as he rode his bicycle along Steubenville Pike in North Fayette.

“I was desperate and determined to find the truck,” she said Thursday while urging Allegheny County Judge Thomas Flaherty to sentence Chicko to the maximum three to six years in prison.

Chicko's attorney told the judge the three-year, mandatory minimum sentence is unconstitutional.

Flaherty disagreed and sentenced Chicko to serve three to six years in prison. He will be eligible for parole after serving two years and three months.

Chicko, 32, was arrested in January 2016 — four months after Ortmann was found on the ground next to his mangled bicycle. Police said he'd been struck in the head by a truck's passenger-side mirror.

Ortmann's family placed billboards along Interstate 376 that included details about the vehicle involved.

Police arrested Chicko after they received an anonymous tip.

Flaherty found Chicko guilty of accidents involving death or personal injury after a non-jury trial in July.

During a victim-impact statement read aloud before sentencing, Jamila Olowinski called Ortmann, her younger brother, an answered prayer when he was born.

“I adored him,” she said. She described the pain and suffering his death has caused her family. She said their lives will never be the same.

“Zack's life should never be the same,” she told the court.

Chicko's fiancée, Nicole Parks, said Chicko has become a father to her daughter and someone her entire family can depend upon.

“He has been very hollow” since the incident, Parks told the court. “Not a day goes by he doesn't feel guilty.”

Jeff McCafferey, Chicko's uncle, said his nephew is not a callous person.

“Everyone recognizes the tragedy of the situation,” he said. “Nobody is victorious today.”

Megan Guza is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach her at 412-380-8519, mguza@tribweb.com or via Twitter @meganguzaTrib.