A Moore Township man has pleaded guilty in a 2016 hit-and-run crash that sent a motorcyclist sliding about 200 feet on Route 22 in Lehigh County.
Joe M. Mahachanh, 44, of the 100 block of Longenbach Avenue, pleaded guilty Monday to leaving an accident involving injury, aggravated assault by vehicle and drunken driving, according to court records.
Authorities withdrew five additional charges under a negotiated plea agreement.
Sentencing is scheduled March 28. Mahachanh has remained free on $35,000 unsecured bail since a day after the crash last June 24, court records say.
The motorcyclist told Pennsylvania State Police he was riding shortly before 11:30 p.m. on Route 22 East in Hanover Township when he was hit from behind by a vehicle. The collision caused the cyclist to crash and slide across both lanes of the highway before stopping on the shoulder.
Driver charged in Route 22 hit-and-run
Witnesses told police they saw a dark blue Mustang speeding past vehicles in the right lane just before the crash. The Mustang driver then cut off a vehicle while turning into the left lane, and struck the victim’s Kawasaki Ninja bike, according to the witnesses.
The driver pulled over briefly and got out before continuing on. Witnesses were able to give police a description and partial license number, which led to a blue Mustang owned by Mahachanh. Police took him into custody about five hours after the crash.
Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @KurtBresswein. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
Our editors found this article on this site using Google and regenerated it for our readers.
