Murrysville man jailed in hit-and-run of motorcyclists

A Murrysville man was jailed Wednesday on $300,000 bail for allegedly hitting two motorcyclists with a vehicle Sunday in North Huntingdon, severely injuring one of them, and driving away, authorities said.

Brian P. Schlagel, 39, is accused of striking Richard R. Dumi and Katherine D. Dumi about 4:05 p.m. Sunday. Schlagel's sport utility vehicle hit the motorcycles from behind and ran over Richard Dumi as he and his wife were riding on Main Street near the Route 30 ramp, North Huntingdon police said.

Richard Dumi suffered fractured ribs and fractured spinal vertebrae when he was thrown to the ground and run over by Schlagel's vehicle, according to the criminal complaint.

He was reported in stable condition this week. Information on where he was treated was not available.

After the collision, Schlagel got out of his vehicle and looked at the damage, then got back inside and rocked the SUV back and forth to dislodge the motorcycle from underneath, police said. Schlagel's vehicle then nearly hit both Richard and Katherine Dumi again, as well as several bystanders.

A witness to the incident provided police with the truck's license plate number and identified the driver from a photo, North Huntingdon police Lt. Rod Mahinske said. Another witness attempted to follow the vehicle, police said.

Schlagel was arraigned Wednesday before North Huntingdon District Judge Wayne Gongaware on three counts of aggravated assault and single counts of accidents involving injury, simple assault, failure to stop to render aid, failure to notify police and reckless endangerment, as well as several traffic violations.

He was placed in the Westmoreland County Prison pending a preliminary hearing before Gongaware scheduled for Oct. 26.

Joe Napsha is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 724-836-5252 or jnapsha@tribweb.com.