Drunken driver caused fatal head-on crash, police say

WILKES-BARRE TWP. – A Bear Creek Township man was drunk at the time of an Aug. 30 head-on crash on state Route 115 that claimed the life of a Mountain Top man, state police at Wyoming said.

Shane Michael Herbert, 20, of Old East End Boulevard, was charged Thursday with vehicular homicide while driving under the influence, driving under the influence, underage drinking and several traffic offenses in connection with the Aug. 30 crash. Police said Herbert’s blood-alcohol content was 0.139 percent after the crash. An adult driver in Pennsylvania is considered intoxicated with a BAC of 0.08 or higher.

Herbert was the driver of a 1993 Dodge pickup that collided head-on with a 1958 Cadillac Eldorado, driven by Michael J. Coffee.

Coffee died at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia on Oct. 2 from complications of multiple blunt force trauma injuries, police said.

Police said two passengers in Coffee’s vehicle, Gary J. Neary Sr., 53, of Glen Lyon, and Michael A. Larocca, 29, of West Hazleton, were injured and treated at area hospitals.

Immediately after the crash, police said, a witness observed Herbert, then 19 years old, holding a can of beer while overlooking Coffee’s wrecked vehicle.

“It just shows the arrogance of the individual to get out after you cause a serious accident with a beer in your hand, looking at the victim,” said Trooper Tom Kelly.

Herbert was arraigned by District Judge Michael Dotzel in Wilkes-Barre Township and released on $5,000 unsecured bail. A preliminary hearing is tentatively scheduled for Nov. 26. Herbert sat motionless during the 15-minute arraignment.

“The family of Michael Coffee is pleased with the arrest of Shane Herbert and is hopeful that justice is served with a conviction and long sentence for the individual who cut short the life of their husband and father,” stated attorneys Jeffrey Killino and David Woloshin in a prepared statement. “Mr. Coffee was a vibrant and extremely well-liked and respected individual who will be sincerely missed by not only his family, but the many individuals whose lives he touched.”

Herbert was northbound on Route 115 when he crossed into the southbound lane, colliding with Coffee’s vehicle. Herbert told police the brakes on his truck malfunctioned, and he attempted to avoid the crash by swerving off the roadway.

Ryan Kuchinskas, a witness, told police that he was traveling north on Route 115 and was passed by Herbert “weaving in and out of traffic … and was accelerating,” the criminal complaint says.

Kuchinskas said after the crash, according to the criminal complaint, he saw Herbert get out of his truck and “was holding a can of Budweiser beer. He (Herbert) walked up to the other car with a beer.”

Neary, the front-seat passenger in Coffee’s vehicle, remembered “Mickie (Coffee) saying, ‘Oh my God,’ and he moved all the way over to the white line. The hood flew up and I was ejected from the car,” according to the criminal complaint.

Police said they found multiple empty beer cans and four unopened beer cans in Herbert’s truck, the criminal complaint says.

At the time of the crash, Herbert was free on bail on simple assault and criminal conspiracy charges in connection with a fight at a bazaar in Bear Creek Township in August 2007, according to arrest and court records.

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Bear Creek Twp. resident charged in wreck that killed Mountain Top man.

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