Aaron J. Burd

BUTLER TWP — A man awaiting trial for vehicular homicide while on alcohol and drugs is facing new charges after he was allegedly caught with crack cocaine.

Aaron J. Burd, 41, of Butler is in Butler County Prison following his recent arrest on two bench warrants, authorities said

Butler County Sheriff's deputies on Sept. 21 served the warrants on Burd in Butler Township, according to court documents. A pat-down search turned up a baggie of suspected crack and a crack pipe in a pants pocket.

Deputies on Friday charged him with misdemeanor counts of possession of a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia.

The warrants, documents said, were for a probation violation and for failing to appear at a court hearing.

At least one of the warrants was issued in connection with a vehicular homicide case pending in Butler County, court records showed.

State police said Burd was more than twice the state's legal limit for alcohol and had cocaine in his system June 27, 2017, when he crashed a kit car in Slippery Rock Township, killing his passenger.

Tanya Lynn Tyson, 26, of Saxonburg died when the car hit a tree and broke apart along Slippery Rock Road.

Burd was thrown out of the vehicle. He was injured but reportedly conscious and talking when rescuers found him.

He was flown by medical helicopter to Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh. A police report at the time described his injuries as “severe."