HARVEYS LAKE, Pa. — One man is in custody and accused of running down a state Department of Transportation worker in a string of hit-and-run crashes Monday in a small lakeside community in Luzerne County, police said.
Nicholas Allen, 32, of Tunkhannock, faces aggravated assault and related charges following the incidents in Harveys Lake, which police alleged hospitalized a PennDOT worker and his girlfriend.
Allen went on a heroin bender and started behaving erratically once he ran out of drugs, his girlfriend told police. Allen admitted to officers he beat up his girlfriend, choked her dog then crashed his car, according to arrest paperwork.
"His girlfriend drove him to Philadelphia yesterday morning for 100 bags of heroin," said Harveys Lake Police Chief Charles Musial. "From yesterday morning until this morning, when the incident happened, he consumed 100 bags and he ran out. And that's when he freaked out and destroyed the house, beat her up and then continued on with his nonsense around Harveys Lake, causing the problems that he caused."
Just after 2 a.m., police said he crashed his car into a guiderail on Lakeside Drive and then punched a homeowner who came out to investigate. Allen then stole the man's SUV and rear-ended another car up the street, near Queen of Peace Road.
That's where he reportedly struck a PennDOT worker who stepped out of his snow plow to check on the crash.
Police say they caught up with Allen in Wyoming County, where he crashed the stolen SUV into a ditch.
Both the PennDOT worker and Allen's girlfriend were hospitalized. Police say the worker has since been released but his girlfriend is still receiving treatment.
As for Allen, he is still locked up at the Luzerne County Prison in lieu of $150,000 straight cash bail. He's next due in court Dec. 30 for a preliminary hearing.