Family: ATV Driver Was Drunk When He Crashed, Fell Down 25-Foot Cliff

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- A man was rescued from a steep hillside Monday evening after his ATV plunged 25 feet over a cliff in the city's Sheraden section.

The accident happened around 6:30 p.m. in the 3200-block of Sacramento Avenue.

Family members who gathered at the scene say the man is lucky to be alive after the terrifying accident. Police say he wrecked his ATV and fell down a 25-foot cliff.

"He's got nine lives," the victim's sister, Holly Kolb, said.

"If the branches wasn't there, he wouldn't have slowed down," the victim's nephew, Anthony Lehew, said.

Emergency officials who responded to the call say they initially had trouble getting to the man. But when paramedics did, they say he was conscious and alert.

They carried him up the hill on a stretcher and put him in the ambulance.

"He was on a three-wheeler, and it basically caught grip and flew over," Lehew said.

"They were fixing it; they just got it running. The other brother said [the victim] got on it, and I guess it popped out of gear and he went flying over the hillside," Kolb said.

Family members say the victim is an experienced ATV rider, but when other factors come into play they say that doesn't always matter.

"I think he was under the influence," Lehew said.

"He knows how to ride. I guess you should ride when you're sober, Jimmy, not when drunk," Kolb said.

The man is recovering at UPMC Mercy Hospital. Police say he is listed in stable condition and is expected to be okay.

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In:
• Sheraden
• Allegheny County