Burghill man pleads guilty to charge of leaving accident scene

WARREN — Charles W. Hillyer, 46, of Route 7 in Burghill pleaded guilty today in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court to a reduced charge of misdemeanor leaving the scene of an accident and will be sentenced later.

Hillyer was charged in June 2015 with felony leaving the scene of a Dec. 4, 2014, crash on Austintown-Warren Road that killed Tony Wells, 25, of McDonald and Warren. Wells was found dead near a bicycle.

If convicted of the felony version of the crime, Hillyer could received several years in prison. The misdemeanor version could produce up to six months in jail.

Hillyer was driving a dump truck at 6:20 a.m. to pick up a load of coke at the Arcelor Mittal plant on Austintown-Warren Road when he hit Wells, a crash investigator said.

Mike Burnett, assistant county prosecutor, said he cannot discuss the reasons for agreeing to the reduction to a misdemeanor until Hillyer’s sentencing.