Pocono News Section

Police: "Teen Drove 98 MPH in Deadly Crash"

Police: "Teen Drove 98 MPH in Deadly Crash" - Friday, August 28, 2009 at 9:00PM EST

Reported by: Kyla Campbell
Friday, Aug 28, 2009 @ 09:00pm EST

BLOOMSBURG, COLUMBIA COUNTY -- Two state police corporals testified Joseph Puglio was driving at least 98 m. p.h. on a curvy, wet, country road when he lost control and crashed, killing two friends.

Puglio, now 17, was driving five friends to a haunted church in the Bloomsburg area, when he crashed along Scotch Valley Road in Beaver Township on September 30, 2008. Steven Geraci and Paul Penkala both died. The other three survivors testified at the first part of the hearing in May, saying Puglio was speeding, and they were afraid of crashing.

The defense tells a different story. Their expert witness, Thomas Lacek of Lancaster, a consulting mechanical engineer, believes Puglio was driving just 46 m. p.h. when the car went off the road.

Troopers say the car slammed into a cinderblock garage at 62 m. p.h. Lacek says, it was more like 26 or 27 m. p.h.

At this point, both sides rested. With juvenile cases, the defense is given seven days to write a summary of their argument. That brief is given to the prosecution, which then writes their summary. At that point, President Judge Scott Naus will determine if Puglio is delinquent on the charges of involuntary manslaughter, homicide by vehicle, and several other charges. If found delinquent, the case will then be handed to a Schuylkill County judge, Puglio's county of residence. That judge will decide Puglio's rehabilitation sentence, which could be spending time in a juvenile detention center until he turns 21. If Judge Naus determines Puglio is not delinquent, the charges are dropped.