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SORRY MOM & DAD: I snuck backstage at ‘The Tonight Show’

Bridge repairs on Luzerne County’s West Side will cause extended detours

WILKES-BARRE &#8212; The state Office of Attorney General is investigating a second West Side police officer in the alleged attempted coverup of a December crash.A state investigator in late April acquired a search warrant for cell phone billing, call and text message records of former Larksville police officer Michael Thomas in connection with a Dec. 21 crash that has <a href="https://www.timesleader.com/news/news/50968578/" target="_blank" title="Part-time Edwardsville cop charged with obstructing emergency services">charges pending against part-time Edwardsville police officer John Fronzoni</a>, court papers filed Tuesday indicate.According to search warrant documents, investigators believe Thomas may have used his phone to communicate with Fronzoni and other witnesses in order to &#8220;hinder the investigation, intimidate witnesses and conceal evidence.&#8221;A search warrant receipt indicates investigators received the requested information on May 8.Court papers say Thomas was the last police officer to arrive at the scene of the Larskville crash. He allegedly told an investigator he did not know William Ritsick, Fronzoni&#8217;s friend and the driver of the crashed vehicle, was at the scene in Fronzoni&#8217;s truck, and said he would have removed Ritsick from the vehicle if he had.Conflicting statementsHowever, the search warrant affidavit says Thomas&#8217;s statement is in conflict with those of several others who said they told Thomas of Ritsick&#8217;s whereabouts.Ritsick pleaded guilty in January to two summary driving offenses committed on Dec. 21, court records indicate.No charges have been filed against Thomas, and requests for comment from the AG&#8217;s office were not immediately successful.Reached by phone Tuesday afternoon, Thomas declined to comment.Thomas resigned from the Larksville Police Department after Chief John Edwards confronted him about &#8220;his actions and inactions&#8221; at the scene of the crash, a search warrant affidavit says. Court papers say Edwards told an investigator he did not believe Thomas&#8217;s account of the events.Edwards confirmed Tuesday that Thomas resigned in late December. Plymouth Borough confirmed that Thomas works now as a full-time officer.Fronzoni, 35, of Larksville, originally was charged in December with three counts of obstructing emergency services. However, a state prosecutor in March withdrew the charges at a preliminary hearing and announced intentions of refiling an amended complaint with additional charges.According to the original criminal complaint, Larksville emergency medical technician Lori Amos arrived first to the scene of a vehicle crashed into a pole in the area of 55 W. Luzerne Ave. just before 2:30 a.m. on Dec. 21. There she said she encountered a man she knows as Bill Ritsick standing next to the vehicle.Ritsick told Amos he was not hurt, the complaint says, and she advised him to wait for police. Fronzoni, who Amos said she recognized as a firefighter, arrived next, got out of his black pickup truck and told Ritsick to sit inside the vehicle, police say.Amos told police she could not see inside Fronzoni&#8217;s truck as the windows were too dark, so she asked Fronzoni if Ritsick would sign a form stating he refused medical treatment, but Fronzoni told her to write &#8220;no patient contact.&#8221;Another witnessLarksville fire engineer Robert Palchanis told police that he was filling out an incident response report soon after arriving when Fronzoni approached him and instructed him &#8220;&#8216;to not totally fill out the report,&#8217;&#8221; police say. Palchanis allegedly said he could smell alcohol on Fronzoni while speaking to him.Courtdale Police Officer Greg Johnson said Fronzoni advised him that Ritsick was his friend and in the back seat of his truck. Fronzoni allegedly told Johnson not to run the vehicle&#8217;s registration information and said he&#8217;d be getting a roll-back truck to remove the damaged car from the scene.Fronzoni left the scene and returned with the roll-back truck driven by Billy Petriga, police say. Responding officers said that at no time did they request towing.Petriga later told police Fronzoni grabbed him by his jacket and walked him to his auto shop to get the roll back truck, the complaint says. Police say Petriga reported that Fronzoni was in a hurry to get the vehicle out of the roadway.Once on the scene of the crash, Petriga said he heard a police officer tell Fronzoni multiple times to &#8220;get out of here.&#8221;Another responding firefighter told police that as Fronzoni walked by him he commented, &#8220;This accident never happened.&#8221;

AG’s Office pulls former Larksville cop’s cell phone records in connection with December crash