Attorney for homicide suspect Weihbrecht wants to inspect truck
Feb. 18—WILKES-BARRE — An attorney for homicide suspect Louis Weihbrecht is requesting to inspect a 2007 Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck and visit the scene where detectives say Mark Reginald Svadeba was fatally ran over with the vehicle.
Weihbrecht, 56, is scheduled for trial Sept. 8 just five days shy of the one-year when he was accused by Plains Township police and Luzerne County detectives of intentionally running over Svadeba, 47, outside an auto-repair garage on North Main Street on Sept. 13, 2024.
Detectives allege Weihbrecht pulled up in his Chevrolet pickup and had a verbal confrontation with Svadeba, who was standing next to his Harley Davidson motorcycle in front of the garage. During the argument, Weihbrecht allegedly lurched his truck forward running over Svadeba, and reversed the truck dragging Svadeba about 30 feet onto North Main Street.
Svadeba died at Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center in Plains Township hours after being struck.
A witness to the incident testified during a previous court proceeding Weihbrecht went "full-throttle" when he ran over Svadeba.
Weihbrecht's attorney, John B. Pike, filed separate motions seeking to visit the scene of the incident as it is private property and to have an defense expert, likely a licensed mechanic, inspect the Chevrolet pickup truck.
The Chevrolet pickup was seized by detectives on Sept. 14, 2024, when Weihbrecht surrendered to an off-duty Wilkes-Barre police detective in the parking lot of Kirby Park.
Although not referenced in his motion, Pike hinted that an inspection of the truck "may yield results that could corroborate (Weihbrecht's) theory of the case."
Judge Joseph F. Sklarosky Jr. has scheduled a motions hearing on Pike's requests for Thursday.
Weihbrecht, of South Main Street, Wilkes-Barre, is facing a criminal homicide charge in county court.
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