Jeannette man on motorized bicycle killed in late-night crash

Debris from a wrecked car helped state police home in on a potential suspect in a Thursday night hit-and-run that killed a Jeannette man who was riding an e-bike.

State Trooper Steve Limani said although troopers didn’t immediately have witnesses to the crash, they did find vehicle parts at the scene. A bumper had identifying markings that narrowed down the type of vehicle to a Kia Rio or Forte made between 2011 and 2013.

“There was enough damage … that would lend itself to believe that the person that was operating the vehicle should realize that they had struck somebody,” he said.

Jayden Lynch, 19, was riding the bicycle west on College Avenue in Hempfield about 11 p.m. when he was hit. The collision happened near North Greengate Road. Both the bicycle and the car were headed toward Jeannette.

With the help of Jeannette police, troopers located a damaged Kia car parked outside a city home.

“We were clearly able to see from being outside that Jeannette residence that that vehicle was also missing the piece of the bumper that would have been left on the roadway because of the collision,” Limani said.

Efforts to talk to anyone inside the home were unsuccessful. Police got a search warrant and found multiple people there.

Troopers impounded the Kia they believe hit Lynch.

No charges had been filed Friday in connection with the crash.

“Right now, we are working through which one of the people that were in the home, or if there was a different party, that was operating that particular vehicle,” Limani said Friday afternoon. “We feel very confident that we’re going to be able to follow through at some point in time with an arrest.”

Lynch loved riding his e-bike and playing video games, said his aunt, Billie Jo Lynch. A 2024 Hempfield Area graduate, he liked to tinker with electronics and always knew how to fix them.

“He could do anything when it came to that stuff,” she said.

He had a big heart and hoped to go to school for nursing, she said.

The family created an online fundraiser to help defray funeral costs.

State police shut down College Avenue for hours while they investigated the crash. It appears that Lynch was riding the e-bike on the road at the time he was struck, authorities said.

Surveillance footage sought

Limani asked anyone who has cameras in that area to check them for evidence that might help identify the driver or reveal other circumstances of the crash. Anyone with information is asked to call the station at 724-832-3288.

Lynch’s cause and manner of death were pending an autopsy and toxicology results. A funeral home had not been selected.

“It takes a very unique type of person to hit somebody, collide and cause catastrophic damage to another human being, and then the … decision you make is to leave the scene of the crash,” Limani said. “It’s a shame that person made those decisions — and there’s consequences that come with those decisions.”

About 100 people died while riding an e-bike in the United States between 2017 and 2022, almost half of which happened in 2022, according to a report by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Crashes with motor vehicles were the top factor reported in those fatalities. There were about 53,200 emergency department visits during the same period for e-bike riders.

At least two crashes involving e-bikes and vehicles have been reported locally in recent months.

One happened when a car collided with an e-bike at the Pittsburgh Mills mall in Frazer in June, the same month an e-bicyclist was hurt in a Pittsburgh crash. A person riding an e-bike was killed in Central Pennsylvania in March. No other vehicles were involved in that incident.

Unrelated arrest

A man involved in what troopers described as a secondary crash was arrested at the site of the hit-and-run after police said he walked into the crime scene in an effort to find his keys and attempted to move evidence on the ground.

Penn Township police searched the area and could not find the keys prior to Jonathan V. Mezeivtch, 35, of Greensburg entering the crime scene after he had been instructed not to, according to court papers.

When reached by TribLive on Friday, Mezeivtch, who also was driving an e-bike, said he had to swerve out of the way of someone attempting to stop traffic because of the crash and ended up on the ground, injuring his hip, shoulder and elbow. As he was about to leave when a ride came to pick him up, Mezeivtch said he spotted what he thought might have been his keys on the ground.

“I took five steps and kneeled over,” he said. “I didn’t touch anything or move anything.”

Mezeivtch was arraigned Friday morning on charges of obstruction and disorderly conduct, both misdemeanors. He is free on $1,500 unsecured bail.

“This is absurd, and people need to know that they arrested me,” he said. “I didn’t do anything wrong.”

A preliminary hearing is set for Aug. 14.