Man charged after leaving the scene of crash

A Northampton man has been charged for leaving the scene of a crash in Lehigh Township.

Stephen Yacone, 41, faces charges of accidents involving death or personal injury while not properly licensed; aggravated assault by vehicle; accident involving damage attended vehicle/property; failure to stop and give information/render aid; reckless driving; careless driving; driving while suspended DUI related; and disregard traffic lane.

According to the affidavit of probable cause filed by Elias Batihk of the Lehigh Township Police Department:

At 11:26 p.m. Saturday, Northampton County Radio dispatched the Lehigh Township Police Department to the area of Lehigh Drive and Riverview Drive for a motor vehicle crash rollover involving injuries and entrapment.

At 11:32 a.m., patrolmen Manogue and Ball were on scene where two vehicles, a black 2009 Dodge Ram, and a green 2008 Mercury Milan were involved in a crash.

The driver of the Dodge Ram fled the scene. Police searched the area for him, but did not find him.

Patrolman Jonathan Roth was called to perform a reconstruction of the crash. Based on his preliminary report, it was determined the Dodge Ram was traveling east on Lehigh Drive and the Mercury Milan was traveling westbound on Lehigh Drive.

Roth determined that the Dodge Ram was traveling in the westbound lane traveling east, and that the point of impact occurred in the westbound lane of Lehigh Drive.

The victim sustained serious bodily injury from the impact of the crash, and had to be extricated from the Mercury Milan from the Lehigh Township Fire Department, and then flown by Geisinger to St. Luke’s Fountain Hill.

At 6:15 a.m., the victim’s sister contacted Batihk by phone and said she was driving west on Lehigh Drive near Simcoe Beverage when she saw a white man dressed in a yellow T-shirt and blue jeans walking east on Lehigh Drive 20 minutes earlier.

Batihk saw a man who fit that description walking south in the 600 block of Cherryville Road.

The man was identified as Yacone and had many scrapes and marks on his arms and face.

Yacone told Batihk he was the driver of the Dodge Ram that was involved in the crash, and that he was a suspended driver and was scared, so he fled the scene into the woods.

Yacone said he was driving east on Lehigh Drive when a vehicle “veered” into his lane of travel and struck him.

Yacone was taken into custody and transported to Lehigh Township Police headquarters.

He is incarcerated in Northampton County Prison in lieu of $100,000 bail, and is scheduled to have a preliminary hearing May 31 before District Judge Robert Hawke of Walnutport.