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PLYMOUTH — A Hunlock Township man is jailed on charges he fled the scene of a head-on crash that injured a responding fire chief on Wednesday.
Court records say Chris Shaw, 58, of 1795 Route 29, operating a Toyota pickup truck, struck a Dodge pickup truck head-on in the area of 269 E. Main St. just before 2 p.m.
Shaw fled the scene in the Toyota that lost its front right wheel as Brian Oppelt, fire chief at Plymouth Elm Hill Hose Co. #3, attempted to prevent him from leaving.
Police caught up to Shaw about one mile away near Main Beverage Distributor in Larksville.
Robrt Conklin recorded the aftermath of the crash from his residence.
“I was sitting at my desk and I heard a loud bang and knew it was a car accident,” Conklin said Thursday. “I took a picture first. We all saw the guy try to get away and I went from picture to video and I just tried to record for police.”
Conklin’s video of the aftermath was posted on social media.
Conklin said a school bus empty of children stopped the path of the Toyota as Shaw attempted to drive away. The school bus pulled forward as a fire apparatus vehicle arrived at the scene.
“Once the firetruck got there, Brian like the man that he is jumped out and immediately went to the driver to stop,” Conklin said.
Oppelt was at the driver’s side door of the Toyota running alongside it attempting to get Shaw to stop. Oppelt was pinned between the Toyota and the fire apparatus vehicle, causing injuries.
Oppelt reportedly told police the tires on Shaw’s vehicle were spinning fast and he believed his leg was going to get caught and ripped off.
As police pursued Shaw, he swerved off the road into a parking lot near the distributor where he attempted to escape on foot. Shaw refused commands from an officer to stop running, police said.
Shaw initiated a fight by kicking and punching the officer who suffered minor injuries, court records say.
A Larksville officer arrived to assist in arresting Shaw.
Police said Shaw had glassy and bloodshot eyes and slurred speech. While being treated at the scene, Shaw stated he was sorry, “He was drinking today and the bottle got to him,” court records say.
Shaw was transported to Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center in Plains Township.
“He didn’t care about what he was going to do to the chief,” Conklin said. “He could have easily killed the chief there. Crazy.”
Richard Pizzano told police he was traveling north behind Shaw who kept drifting into on-coming traffic multiple times. Pizzano said he was stopped at a red traffic signal at East Main Street and Washington Avenue when Shaw drove into on-coming traffic and struck the Dodge pickup truck head-on, court records say.
The Dodge truck is owned by Good Shepherd Polish National Catholic Church, which had a sign attached advertising their fall food festival on Sept. 7.
Shaw was arraigned by District Judge Rick Cronauer in Luzerne County Central Court on three counts each of aggravated assault and simple assault, and one count each of resisting arrest, recklessly endangering another person, fleeing or attempting to elude police, accidents involving damage to attended vehicle, failure to yield to emergency vehicle and four traffic citations. He was jailed at the county correctional facility for lack of $20,000 bail.
