A Saltsburg man pleads guilty to vehicular homicide in a fatal crash on Route 22

GREENSBURG, Pennsylvania — A Saltsburg man has pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide in connection with a September 2020 fatal crash that killed a Blairsville resident on Route 22 in Derry Township. Westmoreland County District Attorney Nicole W. Ziccarelli announced that Martin McKnight, 47, pleaded guilty before Common Pleas Judge Christopher Feliciani.

McKnight was accused of failing to stop at a red light at the intersection of Route 981 and Route 22, which resulted in a collision with a pickup truck driven by 62-year-old Alan Goldizen. Witnesses told police that McKnight ran a red light, striking the driver’s side door of Goldizen’s vehicle. After the crash, McKnight abandoned the vehicle and fled the scene, but turned himself in to Pennsylvania State Police the next day.

Goldizen was taken to hospital after the collision, and almost a month later he died from complications related to his injuries.

As part of his sentence, McKnight was ordered to serve two to five years in prison, followed by two years of probation. Prosecutor Ziccarelli expressed gratitude to the Pennsylvania State Police at Kiski for the investigation and to Assistant District Attorney Anthony Iannamorelli, who prosecuted the case.

McKnight’s guilty plea closes the case more than three years after the tragic incident.