Hop Bottom driver charged with homicide
Published: August 5, 2009
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share thisA Factoryville man was killed in a one-car crash in Clinton Township on Tuesday afternoon, and a Hop Bottom man has been charged with the death.
Scott Robert Rought, 24, of Tunkhannock, died as a result of injuries he suffered in the crash on Carpenter Road, about a mile north of Lithia Valley Road, in Clinton Township, near Factoryville.
Ralph Charles Desarro, 55, of RR 1 Box 1553, Hop Bottom, faces charges of homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence, homicide by vehicle and other offenses.
According to the criminal complaint filed by state police, at 5:05 p.m. Trooper Deanna Piekanski was dispatched to investigate a one-vehicle crash on Carpenter Road. When she arrived, she discovered a red 1990 GMC Sierra truck rolled over onto its side. The contents of the truck bed, mostly power tools, were strewn along the road, and there were skid marks leading up to the crash scene. Piekanski said Rought, the passenger in the truck, was lying on the roadway nearby.
Piekanski located Desarro, the driver, just north of the crash scene. Desarro told the trooper he was working and then went to a swimming hole.
According to the complaint, Desarro “gave this kid a ride home to get his extra set of car keys.” Desarro said he had just met Rought earlier in the day.
Regarding the crash, Desarro told police that a girl in a silver car ran him off the road. Desarro said he swerved to the side, stepped on the brakes and hit a tree.
Piekanski wrote that she detected a strong odor of alcohol on Desarro’s breath. Desarro originally claimed he hadn’t been drinking, then changed his story to say he had one beer, and finally said he had two beers.
Desarro was arrested and taken to Tyler Memorial Hospital for a blood alcohol test. The result of that test is pending.
Wyoming County Coroner Thomas Kukuchka pronounced Rought dead at 6:06 p.m.
Desarro is also charged with driving under the influence, careless driving, reckless driving, restrictions on alcoholic beverages, not driving on the right side and not driving at safe speed.
Desarro was arraigned just after midnight by Magisterial District Justice Carl Smith in Tunkhannock. He was incarcerated in the Wyoming County Correctional Facility in lieu of $100,000 bail.
His preliminary hearing is set for Wednesday, Sept. 16, at 10 a.m. before Magisterial District Judge Russell Shurtleff in Factoryville.
