Man charged with
vehicular homicide
PITTSTON — A man stripped of his driver’s license for past drugged driving arrests was high on drugs when he caused a fatal, head-on crash that killed a woman in Jenkins Twp. in December 2014, according to vehicular homicide charges filed Friday.
Arrest papers say Joseph A. Kaminski, 38, had “significant amounts” of morphine, methadone and anti-anxiety medications in his system leading up to the wreck on River Road.
The victim, Joan Baiera, 71, had just left her job as a seamstress in Pittston and was on her way to a Wilkes-Barre office building, where she moonlighted as a cleaning lady, her daughter Lisa Musto said.
Jenkins Twp. police charged Mr. Kaminski with homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence, homicide by vehicle, accidents involving death, DUI, driving with a suspended license related to a past DUI, and various traffic citations. He was arraigned Friday and remains in Luzerne County Correctional Facility on $100,000 bail.
— BOB KALINOWSKI
Hit-and-run driver’s trial pushed back
WILKES-BARRE — The trial for accused hit-and-run driver Michael Scavone has been pushed back.
Luzerne County Judge David Lupas scheduled another pretrial conference for Feb. 16 at 9 a.m. to determine who Mr. Scavone’s lawyer will be.
In a filing earlier this month, attorney John Pike said Mr. Scavone can’t afford a private attorney or the costs of litigation.
Mr. Scavone, 50, remains jailed at Luzerne County Correctional Facility with bail set at $400,000 on vehicular homicide and related charges.
Prosecutors allege Mr. Scavone, a repeat DUI offender, had been drinking throughout the day and had a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.214 percent more than two hours after he hit triathlete Paula Jones as she jogged along Lakeside Drive in Harveys Lake last summer.
— DENISE ALLABAUGH
Friends raise funds
for injured captain
HUGHESTOWN — A Hughestown firefighter who was hurt in a car crash in Lackawanna County this week will recover but could use some help from his friends.
Ryan Meranti, 24, a fire company captain, suffered a broken right femur and other injuries when his car was struck head-on late Tuesday night on South Main Street in Old Forge. The driver of the car that struck him, Jason Shearer, 39, of Scranton, was killed.
Friends and relatives of Mr. Meranti’s have started a page to generate funds for his medical and other expenses at the online fundraising website GoFundMe. That page had raised $380 of its $4,000 goal as of Friday night.
— ERIC MARK