SHAMOKIN - The driver of a red Dodge Ram truck that crashed into two parked vehicles Monday afternoon in the first block of East Sunbury Street was experiencing a medical problem and will not be charged, Shamokin police reported Tuesday.
Joseph Bozza, 59, of 122 S. Hickory St., Mount Carmel, who suffered minor facial and head injuries in the 3 p.m. accident, was evaluated at the scene before being transported by AREA Services Ambulance to Shamokin Area Community Hospital, where he underwent emergency room treatment before being released.
Police said Bozza experienced some type of medical problem that caused him to drive erratically on Route 61 from Kulpmont to Coal Township and into Shamokin, where he struck a Dodge Dakota pickup truck registered to Sydney Tharp, 41 E. Sunbury St., Shamokin, and a Pontiac Bonneville owned by Nancy Drumheiser, of 19 E. Sunbury St., Shamokin. The Bonneville was pushed into a tree after being hit by Bozza's truck.
Debra Seburn, of Kulpmont, told police she observed Bozza driving erratically on Route 61 from Kulpmont to Shamokin as she traveled behind him. Seburn said Bozza's truck crossed lanes and struck several curbs. Seburn said she called 911.
Shamokin police said a dispatcher at Northumberland County Communications Center reported the erratic driver to city police as his truck was headed toward Shamokin. At the time, city officers were covering a bath salts-related call for Coal Township police in the Springfield section of the township because township police were participating in a search for a missing Coal Township man in Bear Valley.
Once the crash occurred, Shamokin police, members of Liberty Fire Company, Shamokin Emergency Squad and AREA Services responded to the accident on East Sunbury Street at about the same time.
Police said Bozza's truck and Drumheiser's car were towed from the scene Monday afternoon. Tharp's truck was towed Tuesday morning.
Because Bozza's medical condition contributed to the accident, he will not be charged, police said.