COOLBAUGH TOWNSHIP, PA — Note: the above video is from an earlier story.
A Monroe County man was in custody Tuesday morning and facing charges he fled a deadly wreck late last week in Coolbaugh Township, Pocono Mountain Regional Police said.
Investigators said Tuesday a trail of coolant and video surveillance led them to the Tobyhanna home of Steven Rannie, 52, who claimed his damaged Toyota Camry had been in a collision with a deer.
In reality, police said, he hit a 26-year-old motorcyclist named Anthony Giovanni Rodriguez late Friday night at state Route 611 and Cayuga Drive and then fled from the scene.
Rodriguez, of Mount Pocono, died of his injuries.
Rannie is locked up at the Monroe County Correctional Facility in lieu of $500,000 bail, court records show. He is tentatively scheduled for a preliminary hearing Sept. 3 on charges including homicide by vehicle.
Rannie drove south on Route 611 shortly before 11 p.m. Friday and struck Rodriguez's northbound motorcycle while trying to make a left turn, police said. Rannie did not stay at the scene of the collision.
The crash killed Rodriguez and caused damaged to Rannie's car. At the crash scene, police found the car's grill, a headlight assembly and pieces of its front bumper.
A trail of leaked coolant led investigators to a spot it briefly stopped and where they found discarded bags of marijuana.
The police also found video surveillance, which identified characters on the suspect Camry's registration plate.
A search through state Department of Transportation records gave them an Tobyhanna address they suspected was the address used to register the car the police sought.
At that address, investigators found Rannie. In his garage, they found a Toyota Camry with a damaged front end.
Rannie claimed to police the car had been involved in a crash with a deer. However, closer inspection of the damaged vehicle revealed it had been smudged with green paint consistent with the color of Rodriguez's motorcycle. Debris found at the crash scene was also consistent with the car's damage.
Rannie was arrested and was unable to post bail. It was unclear if he has an attorney.