Richard W. Hicks Petty, 23, who was born in Allentown and lived in Pine Bush, N.Y., died Friday night in a Utica, N.Y., hospital.
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Richard W. Hicks Petty
A 23-year-old Lehigh Valley native and former Washington resident died Friday night after a snowmobile accident north of Utica, N.Y., according to the Associated Press.
New York state police said Richard W. Hicks Petty, 23, who was born in Allentown and lived in Pine Bush, N.Y., was riding a 2012 Ski-Doo shortly before 10:30 p.m. Friday with a group on River Road in Forestport when he and two other riders swerved off the road on a curve.
Police said Petty became airborne and hit a tree, suffering a massive head injury. He was taken by ambulance to a Utica hospital where he later died.
Petty, who was raised in Easton, Washington and Hampton, attended Phillipsburg HIgh School and Warren Hills Regional High School.
He later moved to Pine Bush, N.Y., where he met and married Katherine Cooper Petty. The two have a 3-year-old daughter, Christine Lynn Petty.
Efforts to reach his family were unsuccessful.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.