Man found dead in McKees Rocks, police treating incident as a homicide

MCKEES ROCKS, Pa. — Police are treating a suspicious death as a homicide after a man was found dead on the street Saturday night.

Emergency responders arrived on Vine Street just before 8 p.m. and found the man lying in the street. He was taken to Allegheny General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.%

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The victim was identified as Nikkolas Poliak, 23, of McKees Rocks.

Poliak moved to McKees Rocks a week ago following a stint in drug rehab.

"My son was a good kid," said Poliak's mother Alice Loose. "Always making people laugh. He didn't deserve this."

Loose spoke to Poliak hours before his death.

"This is tragic," said Poliak's sister Kendra Thompson. "Who wants to take somebody else's life?"

Poliak had been clean for four months and moved into the McKees Rocks apartment on April 3. He was taking classes at a community college to get his life back on track.

"He was very excited to start a new life. He was excited to be on his own," Thompson said.

The medical examiner has ruled the cause of death to be blunt injuries to the head. The manner of death is still under investigation.

No other information has been released. Anyone with information regarding the hit and run are urged to call Allegheny County Police.

Cox Media Group