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WILKES-BARRE &mdash; A Nanticoke man panicked when he failed to stop for state police and initiated a pursuit that ended in a crash resulting in the death of a 72-year-old man.
				Luzerne County Assistant District Attorney Jill Sosnoski said Jose Crespo Mendez, 22, was lucky no one else was killed or seriously injured during the pursuit on May 24, 2019.
				State police said they attempted to stop Mendez for driving a 2004 Acura with a broken rear bumper, a broken rear window covered with plastic and an inoperable taillight while traveling north on Interstate 81 in Hanover Township.
				Mendez weaved in and out of traffic passing vehicles in the berm reaching speeds of 100 mph, according to court records.
				Mendez avoided stop sticks that were deployed by another trooper and turned onto Route 115 toward Bear Creek. he turned around nearly colliding with a dump truck and turned onto East Mountain Boulevard where Sosnoski said there was heavy traffic due to Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center.
				State police said Mendez turned onto Jumper Road and passed through a red traffic signal at Route 315 and continued onto East Main Street where he struck a vehicle operated by Gerald Mosley, 72, of Bear Creek.
				Mosley died on June 1 as a result of injuries he sustained in the crash.
				Mosley appeared before Judge Richard M. Hughes III via video who sentenced him to 40 to 80 months for vehicular homicide while driving under the influence of a controlled substance, and two years probation on charges of reckless endangerment and fleeing or eluding police. He pleaded guilty to the charges April 9.
				A blood test showed Mendez had marijuana in his system. He admitted he smoked a marijuana cigarette prior to driving the vehicle he purchased hours earlier.
				Sosnoski said the pursuit was recorded by a dash camera inside the cruiser.
				&ldquo;So many lives were placed in danger,&rdquo; Sosnoski noted in court. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s lucky he didn&rsquo;t kill or injure more people that day.&rdquo;
				Mendez&rsquo;s attorney, Thomas Cometa, said his client was extremely remorseful.
				&ldquo;When I first met with Mr. Mendez, he kept saying, &lsquo;I didn&rsquo;t mean to kill him. I panicked,&rsquo;&rdquo; Cometa said.
				Cometa said Mendez initiated the pursuit because he panicked due to a learning disability.
				&ldquo;I&rsquo;m sorry to the family; I&rsquo;m sorry for everything what I did; that is what I have to say, I&rsquo;m sorry,&rdquo; Mendez said.
				Mosley&rsquo;s family was not in the courtroom when Mendez was sentenced.
				Sosnoski read a victim impact statement from Mosley&rsquo;s daughter, Dawn Johns, who wrote how the traumatic loss of her father has emotionally affected her mother, Barbara Mosley, who is now suffering from depression, and their family.
				Mendez could have faced a minimal mandatory 36 months in prison but when he failed to appear for a court proceeding in January, Sosnoski said the sentence became null and void. Sosnoski asked for a lengthy sentence due to Mendez failing to appear in court several months ago and the many lives he endangered during the pursuit.
				Mendez was given credit for 222 days time served in jail and ordered to pay nearly $10,500 in restitution.

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