Apr 2, 2025 By Mike Jones 4 min read

The coroner’s inquest reviewing an Avella man’s death when he crashed following a police pursuit on Route 50 last year is being delayed after Mt. Pleasant Township officials asked a judge to quash the subpoena requiring the police officers involved to testify.

Washington County Coroner Timothy Warco was prepared to start the inquest at the courthouse Tuesday morning reviewing details of Mark Michael Miller’s death almost exactly one year ago when his row office’s solicitor notified him that there would instead be a hearing later this week to let a judge decide whether witnesses had to comply with the coroner’s subpoenas.

Solicitor Timothy Uhrich said he met with attorney Mark Hamilton, who is representing Mt. Pleasant Township, and they agreed to let President Judge Gary Gilman make the final determination during a hearing at 9 a.m. Friday on whether the subpoenas must be followed.

Police and other township officials were at the courthouse before Tuesday’s inquest, but Uhrich said it was best if the proceeding was adjourned to allow Gilman time to rule on the matter.

“To this point, there has not been compliance with the subpoenas,” Uhrich told Warco, who was preparing to preside over the inquest.

However, Hamilton said they would follow Gilman’s decision and comply with the subpoenas if that’s what the judge orders them to do.

“We intend to abide by the court order,” Hamilton said.

Warco, who has not issued a cause and manner of Miller’s death because so few facts have been released to his office, apologized to the victim’s parents, Mark and Marion “Sis” Miller, who sat in the courtroom with their attorney, Noah Geary, preparing to listen to testimony.

“I need to make my determination for the cause and manner of death. This is almost one year since the decedent’s death,” Warco said of the reason why he called the inquest, before looking over at Miller’s parents seated in the gallery. “You’ve been through hell waiting for me to make my decision.”

Miller, 45, died April 3, 2024, after he led Mt. Pleasant Township police on a brief chase when officers began pursuing him after another motorist reported a reckless driver on Route 50. An officer attempted to pull Miller over, but he refused to stop and eventually crashed into a guardrail near Caldwell Road in Mt. Pleasant Township. He was taken by ambulance to Washington Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The officer involved in the pursuit has never been publicly named in the year following the crash. However, she was identified as Officer Crystal Metalik in a March 6 letter District Attorney Jason Walsh sent to township police Chief Matthew Tharp in which the prosecutor justified her actions.

“My office has thoroughly reviewed the entire investigation to include the police report, interviews, and MVR, it is my opinion that the officers involved in this incident followed all policies, procedures, and laws of this Commonwealth in the effectuation of their duties to attempt a traffic stop on a reckless driver who put both law enforcement and the public at large at risk,” Walsh wrote in his letter to Tharp. “My office considers this matter closed for investigation purposes.”

Walsh stated in the letter that Metalik responded to the report of a reckless driver who was “all over the roadway and.hit a guardrail” near Fort Cherry High School. She attempted to stop Miller’s vehicle, the letter states, but he continued driving and later sideswiped another vehicle while speeding before eventually losing control and crashing into a guardrail, prompting his vehicle to go airborne. Walsh said in the letter that an open hard iced tea alcoholic beverage can and prescription medication were found in his vehicle.

A dashboard video camera in Metalik’s police vehicle is believed to be some of the evidence that was to be reviewed and made public during the inquest. It’s not known when the inquest will resume should Gilman require the police officers to testify.