Search warrant served in fatal ATV hit-and-run crash

Ed Lewis, The Times Leader, Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
·2 min read

Aug. 7—NEWPORT TWP. — An avid all-terrain vehicle rider died Saturday from injuries sustained in a hit-and-run crash near Alden Mountain Road on July 30.

James "Jimmy" Edward Thiemann, 26, of Warrior Run, died at Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center in Plains Township.

Luzerne County Coroner Jill Matthews on Monday said no autopsy was planned. When asked for the cause and manner of death, Matthews stated there were no reports to release at this time.

District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce said the crash is being investigated by Newport Township police and the Pennsylvania State Police, Troop P, Forensic Services Unit. An assistant district attorney has been assigned to assist in the investigation, Sanguedolce stated.

State police served a search warrant on a 2004 Hyundai Sante Fe registered to a man in Nanticoke on Aug. 3. The driver of the Hyundai that struck Thiemann fled the scene after the crash, according to the search warrant affidavit.

Thiemann was with a group of other ATV riders traveling south on Alden Mountain Road as the Hyundai was behind them. The driver of the Hyundai attempted to pass the ATVs by driving into oncoming traffic and struck Thiemann's ATV pushing it sideways for a distance, the search warrant affidavit says.

The driver of the Hyundai briefly stopped before fleeing the scene, according to the search warrant affidavit.

Police in Newport Township recovered the Hyundai after the crash and had it secured at a garage.

State police said there were tire marks on the pavement indicating the sideways ATV being pushed by an accelerating striking vehicle.

An inventory receipt with the search warrant says state police obtained a DNA swab from the steering wheel, a fingerprint from the driver's side door and photographs of the Hyundai.

No charges have been filed.