A bicyclist was struck and left for the side of the road early Friday morning in Hanover Township, and the driver who hit them took off toward the Crossroads area without stopping. Police say officers were called to the 100 block of Oxford Street at about 5:40 a.m. for a vehicle-versus-bicycle crash, and EMS crews rushed the injured rider to a nearby hospital while the driver was nowhere to be found.
Hanover Township Police said they are investigating an early morning hit-and-run crash involving a small SUV and a bicyclist, according to a case notice posted by the Hanover Township Police Department. Officers were dispatched to the scene on Oxford Street at approximately 5:40 a.m., per the department, for what was initially reported as a vehicle-versus-bicycle accident. Investigators say the driver fled the scene heading toward the Crossroads and the Sans Souci Parkway, leaving the injured cyclist behind.
Police Believe Suspect Drives a Damaged Black Nissan Rogue
Police believe the vehicle involved is a black Nissan Rogue with front passenger-side damage, a detail investigators are hoping will help the public spot the car or its driver. The bicyclist was transported by EMS to Geisinger Wyoming Valley for treatment, department officials said, though as the station notes, police have not released the person's condition following the crash.
Newport Dispatch also published a report about a different hit-and-run. Hanover Township Police are asking anyone with information to call the non-emergency line at 570-825-1254 or submit a tip through the CRIMEWATCH app.
What Pennsylvania Law Requires of Drivers in a Crash
Under Pennsylvania law, a driver involved in a crash that results in injury or death must stop at the scene, return if necessary, and remain there until fulfilling separate legal requirements, according to Pennsylvania General Assembly, Title 75, Section 3742. The same statute classifies a violation generally as a first-degree misdemeanor, rising to a third-degree felony if the victim suffers serious bodily injury and a second-degree felony if the victim dies. Those classifications describe the law broadly and do not represent any determination by investigators about this specific crash.
This is not the only unresolved hit-and-run on Hanover Township's books. In a separate incident reported by the department, police said a white SUV was captured on video surveillance fleeing the scene, believed to have sustained significant front driver's-side damage, according to a separate Hanover Township Police Department case file. Archived headlines from the Times Leader also reference past Hanover-area hit-and-run cases, including one involving a suspect with a history of traffic citations and another in which a victim died from injuries suffered in a Hanover Township hit-and-run crash, though further details on those cases were not available in the records reviewed.
For now, the driver who struck the bicyclist on Oxford Street remains unidentified, and police have released no update on the condition of the person who was hurt. Anyone with information is urged to contact Hanover Township Police through the non-emergency line or the CRIMEWATCH tip system.
