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PLAINS TWP. — A Forty Fort man on parole for causing an alcohol related crash in Hanover Township that killed two teenagers in 2001 was arrested early Monday morning on drunken driving charges.
Plains Township police arrested Eric Joseph Papp, 32, of West Pettebone Street, on evidence of drunken driving when he was stopped for making an illegal turn into the Sheetz parking lot on state Route 315 just after 3 a.m.
Papp had a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from his breath and he had blood shot and glossy eyes and staggered when he exited a 2012 Jeep Wrangler he was driving, according to charges filed.
Police said in the criminal complaint Papp was taken to Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center for a blood alcohol test at which he repeatedly asked to speak with an attorney. Police deemed Papp’s request for an attorney to be a refusal to submit to the blood alcohol test, the complaint says.
Papp was arraigned by District Judge Joseph Halesey in Hanover Township on charges of driving under the influence of alcohol, driving with a suspended license and failure to obey traffic signal sign. He was jailed at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility for lack of $10,000 bail.
Court records say Papp was sentenced by Judge Thomas Burke on May 17, 2002, to seven to 14 years in state prison for a crash on Middle Road, near Countrywood Road, in Hanover Township that claimed the lives of Mehgan Hanko, 16, and Kenny Williams, 17, on June 9, 2001.
Hanover Township police said Papp, then 18, and four other teenagers had just left an underage drinking party celebrating Hanover Area’s graduation when Papp lost control of a 1997 BMW while negotiating a curve. He was traveling at nearly 90 mph when the BMW left the roadway and rolled several times.
Police said Papp abandoned the wrecked BMW and passengers before turning up at a hospital more than three hours later for treatment.
Kayla Eckrote and Ryan Wilk, who were passengers in the BMW, survived.
Papp was released on parole by the state Department of Corrections on Sept. 10, 2009. He is currently on parole for the double fatal crash until May 17, 2016, according to court records.