Report: Dickson City councilman was DUI in crash that killed him
A Dickson City councilman killed in a car crash May 25 drank alcohol at his son's wedding and argued with a family member before getting behind the wheel intoxicated, according to a South Abington Twp. police report.
Michael G. Fedorka, 69, of Dickson City, had a blood alcohol level of .22%, more than twice the legal limit of .08%, according to preliminary results reported to police by the Lackawanna County coroner's office. His pickup crossed into the wrong lane and collided head-on with another vehicle, injuring the driver.
A family member told police Fedorka had two mixed drinks and several shots before getting behind the wheel, according to a report submitted to the state Department of Transportation.
Police reviewed video of the crash, which showed Fedorka's white Toyota Tundra pulled out of an Exxon gas station heading north and then crossed into the southbound lane before colliding with the Toyota Tacoma driven by Som Limbu.
Police noted Fedorka appeared to be traveling at a high rate of speed when his vehicle hit Limbu's pickup and a fireball erupted.
Limbu was traveling at an appropriate speed, driving south in the southbound lane, police said.
In a supplemental statement included in the PennDOT report, Officer Timothy McCoy reported Fedorka's blood alcohol concentration as reported to him by Lackawanna County Coroner Timothy Rowland. The coroner said the results were preliminary and the autopsy hasn't been finalized, pending toxicology results.
After reviewing damage to both vehicles, witness statements, video footage and blood results from the coroner's office, McCoy wrote that it was his opinion that Fedorka caused the crash.
Crews responding to the crash found Fedorka thrown from the driver's side to the passenger's side of the pickup. He wasn't breathing and emergency personnel began performing lifesaving measures before he was transported to Geisinger Community Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
Responders found Limbu sitting on the side of the road gasping and holding his chest. He was also transported to Geisinger CMC, where he was deemed to be in critical condition, with broken bones and requiring a chest tube.
Limbu was subsequently deemed medically stable, but continues to recover.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Los Angeles Times
4 days ago
- Los Angeles Times
L.A. ICE raids leave people ‘scared to leave the house' in Hawthorne
The truck carrying two men suspected of living in the country illegally was pinned between a white rusty fence and two border patrol vehicles near a busy intersection in Hawthorne. Standing by the passenger door, two federal agents were handcuffing a pregnant woman, a U.S. citizen, angering the crowd that had gathered there and prompting masked agents to stand guard with less-lethal weapons and batons. 'Let her go, she's pregnant,' a woman screamed out. 'That girl is pregnant, let her go!' 'Get back!' yelled an agent with a steel baton. 'We are back!' a man responded loudly. The sweep near 120th Street and Hawthorne Boulevard this month was one of several that took place in this working-class city; all part of an immigration enforcement blitz in Southern California that has mostly affected workers living in the country illegally — similar to those that President Trump has employed in the past. The incident, which was captured on video and shared on social media along with subsequent raids in the city, has sparked outrage, fear and anxiety in a town where half the population is Latino. At least 30% of the total population is also foreign born, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Some businesses said the raids have had an impact on them as well. Recently elected Mayor Alex Vargas has not spoken about the immigration issues his city is facing. He did not respond to requests for comment. But two days after the incident at the intersection, a small group of young people gathered to protest the immigration raids. They waved American and Mexican flags as dozens of cars honked in support. The pregnant woman, Cary López Alvarado, told NBC Los Angeles that the agents had been tailing her husband and co-worker when they pulled into the parking lot of a building where they were doing maintenance. She said she opened the gate for her husband to drive in when the agents pulled up. She said she refused to let the agents into the property. In a video she recorded and shared with the news station, Alvarado tells the agents to leave and that they were on private property. She said the agents then took her into custody for obstruction but later released her. Soon after that, she began experiencing pain in her belly and went to the hospital. Alvarado could not be reached for comment. The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to questions about the operation. The white Toyota Tundra that had been stopped that day remains in the small parking lot of the building that is home to a Live Scan business. The driver side window was broken and shattered glass lay nearby. It's been a week of upheaval in Hawthorne, the South Bay suburb where the Beach Boys got their start in the 1960s and came to epitomize the postwar beach culture of Southern California. Over the last 50 years, the city of nearly 90,000 has become much more diverse, with a sizable Latino immigrant community. Standing outside her apartment complex at the corner of Acacia Avenue and 120th Street, just across from where the truck had been stopped, Maria Perez, 68, a Cuban and American citizen, smoked a cigarette with a neighbor. She expressed anger over the incident and the raids that have been taking place in the city and Greater Los Angeles. 'I cried when I saw what happened here,' she said. 'I was hurting like everybody else and now there's fear not just here but all over the city.' Her neighbor Ruben Esquivel, 43, said the raids have caused some people to go into hiding. 'I don't see anyone,' he said. 'People who are trying to make a living are scared to leave the house. It's horrible.' Jimmy Butler, 59, was home when he started to hear honking. By the time he traced the noise to the intersection, he saw Border Patrol agents taking the two men into custody as well as the pregnant woman. 'I was upset about what happened that day,' he said. 'How do you take someone who hasn't committed a crime?' Since then he said he has been more alert in an effort to protect his neighborhood, a street lined with apartment buildings where Samoans, Africans, Latinos and Black Americans live. When he heard honking again recently, he feared federal agents had returned but he was relieved when he learned it was related to the group of young demonstrators. 'People are living in anxiety,' he said. At the corner of 119th Street and Acacia Avenue, where Spanish Mass at St. Joseph Catholic Church can pull in about 1,000 parishioners, Father Arturo Velascos said it was unclear what effect the June 1 incident, and other immigration raids, will have on attendance. 'The fact that they were here has us asking ourselves: How is this Sunday going to be?' he said. 'I know people are scared. Anyone who is undocumented has that basic fear that if they go to church or leave their home they'll be captured by ICE and get deported.' Velascos said the church has told people to remain vigilant and has held know-your-rights workshops to inform parishioners and the community. He said some people have expressed to him that they're afraid that immigration agents will enter the church to grab people. 'If they ever tried to come into our church packed with parishioners it will go bad for them because people will not tolerate that,' he said. 'You don't want 1,000 people angry at you.' Elsewhere in the city, the raids seem to be keeping people away. On Hawthorne Boulevard, some businesses said there are fewer shoppers. At 132nd Street, Gilberto Alvarez, 32, general manager at Denny's, said he was expecting a boost in sales recently after another diner in the area burned down. 'Right away we saw a bump in sales,' he said. But after Sunday's incident, he saw the number dip again. 'I was expecting to have $13,000 in sales instead I got $9,000,' he said. He said daily sales have also decreased from 500 to about 300. Business owners in the area said they too have noticed a decline in sales. They said workers have called in sick, fearing they will be detained by federal agents. However, some smaller stores said they haven't noticed a difference yet. On a recent Wednesday afternoon, Sergio Hernandez, 49, stood at the mouth of his driveway, contemplating life. For more than 30 years, Hernandez has been living illegally in the country. But now, amid the immigration raids, he's considering self-deporting to Mexico. He said the raids have left him in a constant state of fear and anxiety. They've also placed an economic burden on him. Four years ago, he said, he suffered a stroke and lost the movement of his right arm and therefore his job as a polisher at a metal shop. Since then, he's been selling used items at a local swap meet. But the presence of Border Patrol vehicles has forced him to stay home. They've scared customers away as well and the few times he's taken the risk to sell items at the swap meet, he's noticed half the stalls are empty. Unable to work, he's had to dip into his savings and is afraid he'll run out of money soon. He said if he's unable to pay the $1,300 in rent and bills, he'll return home. Hernandez paused for a moment, spotting a white Chevy Escalade with tinted windows at the intersection nearby. 'See, that's the second time that vehicle has passed by here, it's immigration, you can see the lights,' he said. He said it's moments like those that cause him to be on high alert whenever he has to go to the store. 'Before you could go out and be out and about, you know — living life,' he said. 'But now people are always telling you when they spot immigration and whether it's true or not, you'd rather not find out.' Hernandez said he doesn't know when he'll return to Mexico. What's delaying his decision is the simple fact that he's become accustomed to living his life in the U.S. 'I don't understand,' he said. 'There are people living in the streets, getting drugged up and I'm here trying to work. Why are they coming after me?'
CBS News
14-06-2025
- CBS News
Protected bike lane on Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn will be removed after crashes, mayor says
Mayor Eric Adams is back-pedaling on a protected bike lane on Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn, citing safety concerns. A spokesperson for the mayor said three blocks of the protected bike lane in Williamsburg will be removed by the end of June. Children injured in bike lane collisions, residents say Joel Blaustein says his block has become more dangerous since the city installed the protected bike lane last year. "It's endangering our children going on and off from the buses," he said. "There was like 20 or 30 incidents already." One crash was caught on video back on Jan. 7. A child gets off the school bus and walks toward the curb. He emerges from between two parked cars right into the path of a cyclist in the bike lane. The child was struck, but was not seriously injured. On Friday, the mayor posted on X, "After several incidents - including some involving children — on a section of the Bedford Avenue bike lane in Williamsburg, Department of Transportation Commissioner Rodriguez and I listened to community concerns and decided to adjust the current design to better reflect community feedback." Blaustein is praising the mayor, saying the change will keep children safe as they cross the street. "It's very exciting news for the neighborhood," he said. "We are glad to Mayor Adams." Removing protected lane will endanger cyclists, City Councilmember says City Council Member Lincoln Restler criticized the mayor's decision. "This is just pure politics. That is not how safety decisions on our streets should be made," he said. Restler acknowledges the need for safety enhancements on the notoriously dangerous stretch of road between Willoughby and Flushing avenues, but he says ripping out the protected bike lane is reckless. "We needed to do more to slow down cyclists. We needed to do more to engage families and children about how to safely cross a protected bike lane," he said. "He is going to make this area less safe for pedestrians, for cyclists." Cyclists like Tom Murray would rather see another solution. "The public transport in this city is so bad already. Why take away one of the only ways that people can get around apart from a car?" he said.
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Yahoo
Report: Dickson City councilman was DUI in crash that killed him
A Dickson City councilman killed in a car crash May 25 drank alcohol at his son's wedding and argued with a family member before getting behind the wheel intoxicated, according to a South Abington Twp. police report. Michael G. Fedorka, 69, of Dickson City, had a blood alcohol level of .22%, more than twice the legal limit of .08%, according to preliminary results reported to police by the Lackawanna County coroner's office. His pickup crossed into the wrong lane and collided head-on with another vehicle, injuring the driver. A family member told police Fedorka had two mixed drinks and several shots before getting behind the wheel, according to a report submitted to the state Department of Transportation. Police reviewed video of the crash, which showed Fedorka's white Toyota Tundra pulled out of an Exxon gas station heading north and then crossed into the southbound lane before colliding with the Toyota Tacoma driven by Som Limbu. Police noted Fedorka appeared to be traveling at a high rate of speed when his vehicle hit Limbu's pickup and a fireball erupted. Limbu was traveling at an appropriate speed, driving south in the southbound lane, police said. In a supplemental statement included in the PennDOT report, Officer Timothy McCoy reported Fedorka's blood alcohol concentration as reported to him by Lackawanna County Coroner Timothy Rowland. The coroner said the results were preliminary and the autopsy hasn't been finalized, pending toxicology results. After reviewing damage to both vehicles, witness statements, video footage and blood results from the coroner's office, McCoy wrote that it was his opinion that Fedorka caused the crash. Crews responding to the crash found Fedorka thrown from the driver's side to the passenger's side of the pickup. He wasn't breathing and emergency personnel began performing lifesaving measures before he was transported to Geisinger Community Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. Responders found Limbu sitting on the side of the road gasping and holding his chest. He was also transported to Geisinger CMC, where he was deemed to be in critical condition, with broken bones and requiring a chest tube. Limbu was subsequently deemed medically stable, but continues to recover.
