A Hermitage man has pled guilty to his involvement in a drunk driving crash in Niles that injured his passenger.

According to the Trumbull County Prosecutor's Office, 31-year-old Matthew Hicks pled guilty to a third degree felony count of aggravated vehicular assault and two counts of OVI Wednesday, April 23.

The charges stem from a crash that happened on North Road in Niles back in May of 2024. Police said Hicks was driving too fast when his truck crossed North Main Street into the front yard of a home causing the truck he was driving to get pinned between two trees.

Both Hicks and his passenger, identified as a 30-year-old man from Kinsman, had been ejected from the truck and suffered serious injuries.

Police later determined that Hicks had a blood alcohol level of .169, which is well over the legal limit of 0.08.

No sentencing date has been set for Hicks yet, but the Prosecutor's Office says he could face a maximum sentence of 60 months in prison.

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