Man found guilty in fatal hit-and-run accused of sexually assaulting young girl while on parole
A man convicted in a 2015 hit-and-run murder, is back in jail, on felony sex assault charges. Frazer police arrested Zachary Chicko earlier this month. Chicko is accused of assaulting an underage girl, six months after he was granted parole for his murder conviction.
Brandon Ortmann was killed while riding his bicycle on Steubenville Pike — his body and bicycle left behind as the driver of a pickup truck left the scene. A local billboard company put up a billboard in hopes of helping find the suspect. It got an anonymous tip that led them to Chicko. He was sentenced to three to six years in prison. Ortmann’s mother, Cindi Taylor, says that sentence wasn’t long enough.
“It’s only a three to six year mandatory for a hit-and-run involving an injury of death, and to me that’s just ludicrous. We had hoped something like 20 years ... we lost my son!”
Taylor spoke at Chicko’s parole hearings, urging the court not to release him before the maximum six-year sentence was completed.
“It’s like we knew in our hearts this was going to happen. That’s why we begged them — we don’t want to see another family hurt, the way we’ve been hurt. And we assumed somehow it would be a traffic violation,” Taylor said.
11 Investigates requested documents from the Pennsylvania Parole Board. The documents show that Chicko was denied parole in 2020 and 2021, with the board citing a lack of remorse and a refusal to accept responsibility. He was granted parole in 2022, citing his positive behavior and remorse.
“My heart breaks for them, for her daughter and I offer all our support for whatever they have to go through. And if I can be there for the trial, I’ll be there because this man needs to be there for a long, long, time,” Taylor said.
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