DUI charges pending after hit-and-run incident on Buffalo Valley Rail Trail | News

MIFFLINBURG – A driver who struck a metal bollard on the Buffalo Valley Rail Trail in Mifflinburg and fled faces a charge of driving under the influence.

Mifflinburg Police Chief Jeff Hackenburg reported that Patrolman David Shaffer was investigating an Aug. 22 hit-and-run crash that occurred when a man drove his vehicle through a metal bollard where the Rail Trail crosses North Fifth Street near Community Park. A split-slat wooden fence was also damaged.

The metal bollard at the end of the community park's parking lot is intended to keep vehicles off the path.

The vehicle then traveled west on the Rail Trail to North Eighth Street, where it left the trail and fled, leaving a trail of liquid behind. An off-duty district employee at Pelican's SnoBalls witnessed the incident, called 911 and followed the driver, who was not named by police, to his residence, police said.

Shaffer and Patrol Officer Michelle Marr found the driver at his residence and arrested him. He was then taken to WellSpan Evangelical Community Hospital in Lewisburg for a blood draw, police said.

Snyder County Probation then issued an arrest warrant and the man was detained pending Shaffer's plea to face drunken driving charges, police said.

Trail manager John Del Vecchio said the trail remains open.

“We are working with Schlegel Excavating of Millmont to get an estimate to repair the damage. We are also working with the Mifflinburg Police Department to complete the accident report and then contact the insurance company,” Del Vecchio said.