Man who killed 3 teenagers in 1999 charged with DUI

Amy Marchiano, Republican & Herald, Pottsville, Pa.
·2 min read

The Pottsville man convicted of killing three teenagers while driving drunk in April 1999 in Norwegian Twp. has been charged with driving under the influence in relation to a crash on April 14.

Police said the accident in Pottsville, which occurred nearly 25 years to the day of the 1999 tragedy, was caused by Robert F. McCormick Jr., 72, who was charged Tuesday.

Pottsville police said the crash occurred around 3 p.m. as McCormick was driving east on East Norwegian Street and failed to navigate a right turn. His vehicle struck a vehicle stopped on Wolfe Street operated by Nicholas Meyer, 40, of Pottsville. McCormick’s vehicle continued and struck the east side curb on Wolfe Street and became disabled, police said.

Meyer was not injured, and his vehicle had minor damage.

McCormick, who police said appeared to be under the influence of alcohol, was taken to Lehigh Valley Health Network for a blood alcohol test, which showed a blood-alcohol content of 0.22%, police said. The legal maximum in Pennsylvania is 0.08%.

Police charged McCormick with felonies of DUI-highest rate and general impairment, a misdemeanor of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and a summary of reckless driving.

He was returned to State Correctional Institution/Smithfield, Huntingdon, on April 18, as a parole violator, Maria A. Bivens, press secretary for the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, said in an email Friday.

Fatal accident

McCormick was charged with causing the accident at 11:16 p.m. April 9, 1999, on Route 61 at the entrance to the Fairlane Village mall that killed Pottsville Area High School students Tim Kimber, Tara Corson and Joe McGoey as they were coming home from a movie. Three others were in the car, and two of them were injured.

McCormick was convicted in 2001 of homicide by vehicle, driving under the influence and related charges, and was sentenced to 16-45 years in prison.

He was paroled Aug. 15, 2017, from SCI/Somerset, Bivens said.

McCormick’s blood-alcohol ratio was 0.18%, and traces of marijuana were found in his system, according to reports at the time.