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WILKES-BARRE — A Dallas man who fled the scene after running down a bicyclist with his SUV earlier this year at Harveys Lake was sentenced Wednesday to three years in the county’s Intermediate Punishment Program, but found forgiveness from his still-healing victim in a heartfelt scene inside the courtroom.
Gregory Michael Strazdus, 48, of Ransom Road, struck and severely injured 53-year-old Kurt Manganella on March 9 as he biked around Lakeside Drive. Manganella, who reported hearing an engine rev after being hit near Pole 69, was hospitalized with four broken ribs and injuries to his lungs and hip.
It was during his hospital stay that he decided he wanted to forgive Strazdus, he said.
His loved ones wanted retribution, he said, but he didn’t. He only wanted Strazdus to get well.
“I just know from dealing with it from my own family that if you don’t hit your rock bottom, you’ll never get well,” he said outside the courtroom. “I’m hoping this is it (for Strazdus).”
Manganella, who said he is still enduring pain nine months after the hit-and-run incident, made amends with Strazdus as both men stood before a judge, but implored Strazdus to overcome his demons. He indicated Strazdus, who submitted a letter of apology but did not address the court beyond a short admission, was battling substance abuse.
“You hit one guy who is very familiar with addiction,” Manganella told Strazdus during the hearing. “There’s not a family in America that doesn’t have it. Suck it up. Get sober. Do not let this be a crutch for you. Do not let this be a setback to you.”
He added: “I wish you the very, very best.”
Strazdus’ attorney, Frank McCabe, indicated his client was ready to pay for his crime.
“He greatly regrets the decision he made the day in question,” McCabe said. “He knows he has to face the consequences for that.”
Authorities were led to Strazdus after a neighbor spotted a damaged Chevrolet Equinox in Strazdus’ driveway and reported it. Confronted by police, Strazdus admitted to being at the lake when Manganella was struck but said he believed he had hit a mailbox. He told police he slowed down, looked in the mirror, and drove off because he didn’t see anything.
Authorities couldn’t determine whether Strazdus was under the influence at the time of the hit and run because he wasn’t found until days later, Luzerne County Assistant District Attorney Thomas Hogans said after the hearing.
“It’s one of those things where we can’t rule it out when he was driving, but we can’t prove it,” he said.
The scene inside the courtroom was something the veteran prosecutor said he wasn’t used to seeing.
“It’s kind of refreshing when the victim tells the defendant good luck and the defendant obviously feels remorse for what he did,” he said.
Luzerne County Judge Fred A. Pierantoni III on Aug. 25 accepted Strazdus’ plea on charges of aggravated assault by vehicle and accidents involving death or personal injury, as well as a summary traffic violation.
The judge went outside the range of a previously agreed to plea agreement that called for 18 months in the Intermediate Punishment Program (IPP) and six months of house arrest, doubling the IPP sentence and tacking on three months to the house-arrest term.
“As a responsible operator, you should have at least stopped,” Pierantoni said.
The IPP is a county program that includes treatment and a period of supervision. Depending on the needs of the defendant, the sentence might include electronic or alcohol monitoring.
Strazdus must pay Manganella $44,541 in restitution for medical bills and lost earnings, Pierantoni ordered.
