Five Car Crash in Downtown Scranton

SCRANTON — A woman was sent to the hospital Thursday afternoon following a bizarre crash in the heart of downtown Scranton.

Police said a woman’s car ended up on the wrong side of the street, and then took out several city and county vehicles

Joseph Koontz was just sitting down to lunch on Wyoming Avenue in Scranton when he saw a car start speeding down the wrong lane of the busy street.

“The car just veered, really quick, like I said, it just turned, like someone turned the wheel,” said Koontz.

Koontz said it didn’t look like anyone was in the driver’s seat of the red Subaru at all when it barreled into four other vehicles. There was a woman in her 20s inside. She was taken to Geisinger Community Medical Center with what police called serious injuries. No one else was hurt.

The chain reaction crash ended against the fence at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church where Robert Paul snapped a picture from the second floor right after the ambulances arrived.

“The vehicles all, one into another into another, into a fence, and like I said that’s the contact point of the building we were sitting in,” said Paul.

Scranton police said when the red Subaru veered into the other lane, it wound up hitting three public vehicles. First, two parked cars from the district attorney’s office. Then, it hit a Scranton DPW truck.

The DA’s cars were parked and empty, but two DPW workers were driving when the Subaru started coming toward them. Those workers didn’t want to go on camera, but said it seemed like the Subaru was going at nearly 60 miles per hour.

“Oh my God, yes it could have been a lot worse. There was a lady walking not 15 feet from that white car. If she was just a little bit sooner she would have been under that car,” said Koontz.

The crash closed down that stretch of Wyoming Avenue for almost two hours. It was reopened later in the afternoon. There is no word on if any charges will be filed.