Tamaqua man is cited in road-rage incident

A Tamaqua man, who was helping a friend move, was cited by Tamaqua police on May 29.

An officer was monitoring traffic at 2:09 p.m. in the area of Mermon Motors. He saw a black Subaru drive past him and was able to identify the driver as Michael P. Kemmerer, 26, of 100 Pitt St. Knowing that Kemmerer's driver's license was suspended the officer pulled out to make a traffic stop. As he did the driver of a pickup directly behind the Subaru attempted to get his attention.

The traffic stop was made in the area of the Speedway gas station. As an officer spoke with Kemmerer and his passengers, another officer spoke with the driver of the pickup, who had also pulled over. That driver wanted to report that Kemmerer had passed him on the right, reached out of his open window and punched the side mirror of the truck.

When asked about the road rage incident, Kemmerer said he only did it because the pickup driver had run him off the road.

Records checks were done on Kemmerer and his passengers, with no warrants found. The car was filled with household items belonging to one of the passengers, who said her friends were helping her move.

Kemmerer was cited for driving with a suspended license, disorderly conduct and careless driving. They were allowed to leave, with one of the passengers, who did have a valid license, behind the steering wheel.