YOUNGSTOWN — Laird Bruner, 42, of Youngstown, remains in the Mahoning County jail in lieu of $200,000 bond in the Sept. 29 death of Joseph Novacich, 53, as Novacich was walking along Loveland Road on the city’s South Side.

Bruner was arrested Oct. 2 by the U.S. Marshal’s Violent Fugitive Task Force on a warrant through Youngstown Municipal Court and the Youngstown Police Department on felony aggravated vehicular homicide, felony leaving the scene of an accident and misdemeanor operation in willful, wanton disregard of the safety of persons or property in Novacich’s death.

Bruner, whose name has been spelled Brunner in some instances, was arraigned in Youngstown Municipal Court on Oct. 3 and bond was initially set at $500,000.

But on Thursday, when Bruner’s preliminary hearing was held, Bruner’s bond was reduced to $200,000.

Bruner is represented by attorney Christopher Maruca.

At Thursday’s hearing, Bruner waived his right to a preliminary hearing and all three charges were bound over to a Mahoning County grand jury. Multiple individuals living or working near the site of the crash were subpoenaed to testify at the preliminary hearing, but because Bruner waived his right to the hearing, no testimony was given. Two Youngstown police officers also were subpoenaed to testify.

THE CRASH

Video of the crash and interviews of witnesses indicate that Novacich was walking north along the right side of Loveland Road near Pointview Avenue and Elmo’s Tire when a vehicle heading southeast on Powers Way traveled through the three-way intersection at Loveland, Buckeye Circle and Powers Way, and moved into the left lane to pass a car in front of him.

The road curves to the right and the driver was passing toward oncoming traffic when he encountered Novacich, who apparently saw the car coming straight at him. He turned to his right and tried to move quickly into the devil strip beside the road when he was struck.

A witness who saw the collision and aftermath close up called what he saw “horrible. It really was. It was like a movie.” He was one of two people who were only about 30 feet away from Novacich when the collision occurred. “It was traumatizing,” the witness said.

Novacich flew upward toward the windshield and into the air as the car continued south through a second front yard, then through a metal fence between that house and the next house. Novacich and the car came to rest in front of the third house. The vehicle stopped when it hit a trailer parked in the front yard.

The driver backed his car and re-entered Loveland Road, one of the witnesses said.

The intersection has signs indicating that the speed limit in the intersection is 25 mph. It turns into a 35 mph area south of the intersection, but one witness said the driver was going 40 mph or 45 mph when he struck Novacich.

One of the close-up witnesses said there is certainly a problem with the intersection because there are two sets of tire marks in the front yard where Novacich was struck — one from the previous Saturday night and the one from about 10:20 a.m. Sept. 29, when Novacich was killed.

The marks from the previous Saturday night tore up grass and dirt and continued into the front yard. A parallel set of tire marks and markings placed by Youngstown police investigators can be seen next to them in the Novacich fatality.

In both cases, after the car entered the same devil strip near the road, they proceeded south and crashed into and over the same metal fence two houses over from where Novacich was struck.