Lackawaxen man dead in Saturday night crash

By PAT CAMUSO

LACKAWAXEN — Pike County coroner Kevin Stroyan pronounced a Lackawaxen man dead at the scene shortly after 11:00 p.m. on Saturday night after a horrific crash on State Route 6, approximately a quarter of a mile east of Route 739 in Blooming Grove Township.

According to the state police in Blooming Grove, Robert “Bob” Miller was traveling east on Route 6 when he lost control of his white 1991 Dodge Ram pickup truck. The curve in the road is near the entrance to the Friendly Acres community and familiar to area residents because it has been the site of accidents in the past.

Police said Miller’s truck left the roadway to the right at an apparent high rate of speed. It struck an embankment then traveled down the road’s edge, taking down several cedar trees before coming to a rest more then fifty yards from the initial point of impact. Witnesses at the scene said the engine of the truck was completely dislodged from the vehicle from the force of the crash. Police said Miller was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the accident and was ejected from the vehicle at impact.

Although police will not comment further on the investigation, witnesses said that Miller was refused service at the nearby Mid-Forest Inn just minutes before the accident because he appeared to be intoxicated.

The 52-year-old contractor is originally from the Elkhart area of Indiana and lived in Greeley since the mid-1980’s. For most of that time, he worked as a private contractor at Trails End Campgrounds in Shohola Township.

Miller was heading toward his home, a quarter of a mile further down the road, at the time of the crash. A police investigation into the cause of the crash is ongoing.