WILKES-BARRE - A Dallas man convicted of charges relating to a towing incident in March 2011 that left a city woman dead was sentenced this morning to four to eight years in state prison.
Robert Wickham, 56, was sentenced on charges of homicide by motor vehicle, two counts of driving under the influence and additional summary. He was convicted of the charges after a jury trial in September.
He was sentenced by Judge Joseph Sklarosky, Jr.
Prosecutors say 55-year-old Denise Polinchak, of Wilkes-Barre, was having her vehicle towed from the area of the Social Security Administration building on East Mountain Road because of brake problems. Wickham was in the driver's seat of Polinchak's car with the door open when the vehicle accelerated.
The open door struck Polinchak, according to prosecutors, knocking her to the pavement. Polinchak died at Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center later that day.
Her death was ruled a homicide. Prosecutors allege Wickham drank three 24-ounce cans of beer before being dispatched by his employer, Herbert's Towing, through AAA Mid-Atlantic to Polinchak's vehicle.