PERRYOPOLIS — A police officer is dead after his cruiser slammed into a turning vehicle during a high-speed chase on Route 51. Police say part-time Perryopolis officer Richard Champion hit shop owner Andy Bohatch's sport utility vehicle around 1:15 p.m. Sunday in Perryopolis despite swerving to avoid it.

Witnesses say the 35-year-old Champion appeared trapped as the cruiser burst into flames.

He was pronounced dead at the scene. He's survived by his wife and 16-month-old son.

Police say Bohatch was hit as he turned across Route 51's southbound lanes toward the parking lot of his Big Barn Country Store. He's listed in critical condition at UPMC Presbyterian.

JOHNSTOWN — A former college student has been sentenced to two years in prison for building bombs without a federal license in his off-campus central Pennsylvania apartment.Vladislav Miftakhov, 19, of San Carlos, California, was sentenced Friday in federal court in Johnstown on a guilty plea to the charge last summer.Police searched his apartment after a report that he was growing marijuana in the unit and found pot plants along with bomb-making materials, including an unexploded device containing about a half-pound of volatile chemicals.Public defender Christopher Brown contended that much of the legal scrutiny the case received was fueled by the Boston Marathon bombings nine months earlier. He said his client's actions stemmed from having come from a family of scientists and developing a fascination with rockets.U.S. Attorney John J. Valkovci Jr., however, rejected the idea that the defendant's actions were mere youthful thrill-seeking, noting that Miftakhov had detonated an explosive in a park.