SAXONBURG — A Washington County man whose flatbed truck ran a red light at a busy Route 8 intersection this summer, hitting and killing a Middlesex Township motorcyclist, has been ordered to stand trial on a charge of homicide by vehicle.

Michael T. Burns, 37, of Houston, Pa., had that charge, as well as charges of involuntary manslaughter, recklessly endangering another person and four summary traffic and vehicle code violations, held to court on Wednesday at a preliminary hearing before District Judge Sue Haggerty in Saxonburg.

According to a criminal complaint, Burns was driving west on Glade Mill Road at about 2:45 p.m. July 26 approaching the road’s intersection with Route 8 when he was unable to stop and ran a red light, hitting a 2013 Victory motorcycle driven by Dale T. Major, 64.

After the crash, Major was taken to Butler Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead of blunt force trauma, according to a police complaint. Burns, according to the complaint, told investigators that he didn’t initially realize he had hit Major’s motorcycle, and only learned of the collision after he stopped his truck and ran back to the scene.

Haggerty’s ruling came after testimony from three Middlesex Township police officers who said that the trailer — an industrial-sized air compressor — Burns was hauling that day didn’t have its electric brakes properly connected to the 29,120-pound truck Burns was driving.

The officers also testified that at least one of the four in-use brakes on the truck itself wasn’t functioning properly, and that Burns had not lived up to his responsibilities as a licensed CDL driver under state regulations.

Licensed CDL drivers are responsible for routine safety checks of the vehicles they drive, testified Middlesex Township Police officer Randy Davison, who along with officer Conrad Pfeifer performed inspections of both the truck and trailer, as well as a road test.

Pfeifer, who also is a licensed CDL driver, testified that during the road test he quickly determined that something was wrong with the truck’s braking system.

“It was clearly apparent to me in the first 50 feet that the brakes weren’t functioning properly,” Pfeifer testified.

An inspection of both the compressor and the truck found multiple vehicle code violations, the officers testified. Davison said that the truck’s right rear brake was out of adjustment — something that would have required the truck be taken out of service immediately, he testified.

Davison also testified that the 18,800-pound compressor Burns was hauling that day didn’t have its electric brakes connected to the truck — another requirement under Pennsylvania’s commercial vehicle codes.

Pfeifer testified that the inspection also determined that the cause of the brake problems wasn’t the brakes themselves, but a problem with the system responsible for regulating the distance between the truck’s brake pads and its rotors. Pfeifer said that all four slack adjustors on the truck’s rear brakes were to varying degrees rusted and seized up, meaning the weren’t moving properly. That’s something that Burns was responsible for testing, Pfeifer testified.

Defense Attorney Al Lindsey argued the homicide charge should be dismissed, saying prosecutors hadn’t managed to present enough evidence that Burns was criminally negligent.

“I don’t think they’ve shown negligence on the part of Mr. Burns, let alone gross negligence,” Lindsay said.

He called the crash a “tragic accident” but said that the truck’s mechanical problems weren’t Burns’ fault, and that the only way to determine the brakes’ functionality was to actually drive the vehicle.

“That means you drive the truck and see if it stops,” he said.

Assistant District Attorney Ben Simon argued that the truck’s condition was Burns’ responsibility under Pennsylvania regulations governing commercial vehicles, and that Burns’ failure to properly inspect the vehicle was compounded by the lack of a proper brake hookup for the compressor, which had its own brake system which wasn’t connected to the truck.

“He did not do what he was required to do, and got someone killed,” Simon said.

Burns is free on $35,000 unsecured bond, which Haggerty continued on Wednesday.