COOLBAUGH TWP., MONROE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — Police say they have charged a man after they say he struck a motorcyclist with his vehicle and left him for dead on State Route 611 last week.
According to the Pocono Mountain Regional Police Department, on August 16 officers were called to a crash with serious injury on State Route 611 in Coolbaugh Township.
A bystander told police that a vehicle hit a motorcycle and fled the scene. The motorcycle rider, Anthony Giovanni Rodriguez, 26, of Mount Pocono, was pronounced dead on the scene.
Through further investigation, officers said Rodriguez was traveling north on SR 611 when the driver of the car, later identified as Steven Rannie, 52, of Tobyhanna, was traveling south and entered the northbound lane to turn left causing a collision between Rodriguez and Rannie.
Police look to identify two after retail theft at TargetPolice determined that Rannie's car sustained serious damage and they found a grill, headlight, and pieces of the front bumper on the scene. Officers said they also located multiple bags of marijuana that were discarded off the side of the road.
Surveillance video was able to help identify Rannie's vehicle and police went to the registered address in Tobyhanna where they found the car parked in a garage matching the damage that was consistent with the scene of the crash, police added.
Police say Rannie originally lied and said he hit a deer, however, after a search warrant was issued on the car police said they found suspected biological material under the vehicle.
Rannie was arrested and charged with accidents involving death, homicide by vehicle, drug possession, and other related charges.