HANOVER TWP. - Police filed vehicular homicide charges Friday against a man in connection with a head-on crash that killed an elderly married couple from Nanticoke last year.
Kevin M. Allen, 35, surrendered to authorities to face two felony counts of homicide by vehicle and various traffic citations for the Aug. 4, 2011, wreck on the Sans Souci Parkway.
The Hanover Twp. man was speeding in an overweight pickup truck when he crossed lanes and plowed head-on into a car driven by Edward A. Skwirut, 89, police said.
Mr. Skwirut and his wife, Dorothy Skwirut, 86, died minutes apart, shortly after arrival at Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center in Plains Twp.
Mr. Allen was arraigned Friday morning by Magisterial District Judge Joseph Halesey, who released Mr. Allen on $5,000 unsecured bail.
According to the criminal complaint:
Mr. Allen was driving at least 67.4 miles per hour at the time of the crash, well over the posted 45 mph speed limit. Skid marks from Mr. Allen's truck started in the southbound lanes and continued into the northbound lanes until the truck struck the Skwiruts' car. Mr. Allen claimed another vehicle caused him to swerve.
At the scene, Mr. Allen was transporting a dozen 80-pound bags of concrete mix that were not properly secured. The 960 pounds of concrete mix exceeded the maximum payload capacity of 678 pounds for the 2002 Chevrolet truck, vehicle safety inspectors determined.
In addition to vehicular homicide, Mr. Allen was cited for speeding, failure to drive at a safe speed, careless driving, driving into the opposite lane of travel and failure to properly secure a vehicle's load.
A preliminary hearing was set for 9:30 a.m. Monday, Dec. 17.
Contact the writer: bkalinowski@citizensvoice.com