UPDATE: Old Rt 115 Ross Township Fatal Accident

ROSS TOWNSHIP — A head-on crash Tuesday in Monroe County left one man dead.

Troopers say he died when a pickup driven by a fire police officer crossed into oncoming traffic.

That deadly wreck happened around 10:30 a.m. Tuesday on Route 115near Saylorsburg.

Officials say the driver who died was Paul Hosking, 83, from Saylorsburg, and that he was only minutes away from his home.

This deadly crash happened right in front of the post office and Craig Graham saw it all.

“It was a blink of an eye. It just looked like he turned right into him, the pickup truck,” Graham said.

Officials say the pickup, which was driven by Charles Kuruc, 68, of Easton a fire police officer, crossed over the double yellow line, clipping the back of the SUV in front of him and hitting Hosking’s car head on.

“For some unknown reason, he pulled into the lane southbound and hit this vehicle here, where the deceased individual is, head on,” said Monroe County coroner Bob Allen.

Authorities said Hosking was only five minutes away from his home.

Drivers and workers at the post office rushed to see if they could help.

“It looked like an explosion. Then I got out, started coming up and the one gentleman over at the post office had already called 911,” said Graham.

The driver of the pickup was taken to the hospital.

Route 115 in Ross Township was closed for several hours as state police worked to reconstruct the scene and try to determine exactly what caused this deadly crash.

Daniel Baldwin was right behind the pickup truck driving home from his classes at Northampton Community College. He lives just up the road and watched the crash in disbelief.

“Oh, my gosh, I’ve never seen anything like it. It was really, really scary. It’s like things you see in movies. It didn’t even look real,” Baldwin said.

Investigators are looking into why the fire police officer crossed into oncoming traffic.

Witnesses say their thoughts and prayers are with everyone involved.

“It is what it is, sad, very sad.”

Troopers say they expect to press charges against the driver who crossed over the double yellow line.

State police have yet to release just who the driver of the pickup is and what charges he may face.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Witnesses driving behind both vehicles involved in the crash gave almost identical accounts of what happened.

The pickup was traveling behind a white Jeep Cherokee, said Daniel Baldwin, 19, of Saylorsburg. Baldwin was driving behind the northbound pickup truck when the crash occurred.

“The Cherokee stopped to make a left-hand turn onto Anchorage Road. The pickup veered slightly right and then left into the oncoming traffic, where he hit the grey four-door sedan head on.”

“The car (sedan) went airborne. I had a perfect view of the crash,” he said.

El-hajj Muhammad, 54, was driving an ivory Jeep Grand Cherokee behind the southbound four-door sedan before the crash.

“The woman in the white car (Cherokee) tried to turn (left onto Anchorage Road). The truck was right behind it. Both (the sedan and pickup truck) went into the air,” Muhammad said.

He ran to the sedan, which landed against a utility pole on the southwest side of the intersection.