Ernest Allen 
Jan. 3, 1993 
Ernest D. Allen, 49, Of Rr 3, Shickshinny, Died Sunday In The Berwick 
Hospital, Berwick.

A Job With 
An Altitude 
Bob Barrett Took Just A Few Giant Steps And Crossed The Length Of The Room.

By CLARA G. HERRERA and LISA SCHEID; Times Leader Staff
Writer
 Monday, January 04, 1993 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 





The new year was barely underway Friday when a Plains Township man fell to
his death from the Cross Valley Expressway and an Edwardsville bar owner was
stabbed in a brawl. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The two incidents punctuated a New Year's Eve and morning that busied
police and emergency medical technicians in Wilkes-Barre, Edwardsville, Bear
Creek Township and Luzerne. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; A motorist reported seeing a man fall 60 feet from a 4 -foot opening
between the north- and south-bound lanes of the Cross Valley near the Center
City exit, state police said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Police found the body of Raymond Deiter, 19, of Poplar Street, a short time
later, at 4 a.m. Deiter apparently was attempting to cross a wall that
separated the lanes, police said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Luzerne County Coroner Dr. George E. Hudock Jr. is scheduled to perform an
autopsy today at Mercy Hospital. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 A relative declined to comment Friday. A funeral director said Deiter was a
college student. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Police did not identify Deiter until late Friday afternoon, and had no
clues as to why he was there, said Tpr. William J. Bevan Jr. of the Wyoming
barracks. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The body was found without identification, and there was no vehicle nearby. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 A trooper on duty Friday night could not explain how the body was
identified. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Edwardsville stabbing &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Also Friday, Edwardsville police were summoned about 1 a.m. to Club Lee on
Main Street, where the club's owner was stabbed while trying to break up a
fight near the rear of the bar. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 A crowd of 100 people was gathered with the owner inside the club, but
police said they could find no witness to the assault. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "Nobody knows anything," Edwardsville police officer John Soprano said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "There had to be 100 witnesses to the fight and nobody knows anything." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Leo Yerashunas, longtime Club Lee owner, was listed late Friday in serious
condition at Nesbitt Memorial Hospital with a stab wound to his abdomen. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Police do not know what started the brawl involving more than 100 New
Year's revelers. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Two men were cited for disorderly conduct in what, Soprano, a police force
veteran, characterized as the biggest fight in Edwardsville in recent memory. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 West Side police from Plymouth Township to Forty Fort responded to the
Edwardsville fight. State police also responded. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Soprano said Club Lee, a popular club that draws patrons from as far away
as Scranton, was the scene of a stabbing about a month ago. In the earlier
incident, police also could locate no witnesses. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Some witnesses criticized the first police officers at the scene for
waiting to go into the bar. But Forty Fort officer William Stone said
Edwardsville police needed to wait for backup from other departments,
including his. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "You don't know how fast a crowd of 100 can turn on two officers," Stone
said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Accidents &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Police across the Wyoming Valley reported no traffic fatalities related to
drunken driving, unlike Jan. 1, 1992, when three people were killed after
leaving a local bar. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 But, traffic accidents in Bear Creek Township and Luzerne damaged several
vehicles and property. One man was injured. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 In Bear Creek Township, a New Jersey man was trapped in his vehicle for
about an hour and a half after losing control of his car and crashing Friday
morning, police said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Leon Kowalski, 27, was traveling south on state Route 115 when he
apparently lost control of his car after trying to round a curve at a high
rate of speed, police said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Kowalski's car was severely damaged after plowing into about 150 feet of
woods, police said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Kowalski was arrested on suspicion of driving while drunk, police said.
Police say charges are pending the results of a blood-alcohol test. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Kowalski was taken to Geisinger Wyoming Valley Hospital where he was
treated for head and facial injuries and released Friday, a hospital
spokeswoman said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 In Wilkes-Barre, a city man was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving
after he crashed his pickup into another vehicle on Scott Street early Friday
morning, police said. Both cars were severely damaged, police said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Tom Demellier of Wyoming Avenue will be charged with driving under the
influence of alcohol if blood-alcohol test results show that he had more than
the legal limit of alcohol in his blood, police said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 No one was injured, police said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 And, a Luzerne man, Charles Kopetchny, cq 57, of Carpenter Street, was
charged with drunken driving after driving his car into six parked cars, three
garages and several fences, police said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "The only thing we didn't have was a partridge in a pear tree," Luzerne
Ptl. Steve Bigus said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Damage was estimated at about $100,000 in the 5 a.m. accident in an alley
between Charles and Bennett streets, Bigus said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Kopetchny, who has insurance to pay for the property damage, was not
injured, Bigus said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "He was fine," Bigus said. "His car looked like an accordion and the area
looked like a hurricane hit." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Kopetchny also was charged with damaging property, Bigus said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The incidents left police with more work than they would have liked. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "With everything that was going on, there just weren't enough cops out
there, we were also having to assist other departments," Bigus said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "Friday was bad, Saturday will be bad and Sunday people will stay home to
recuperate before they go back to work on Monday."

Jan. 2, 1992 New Years Accidents For Page 1a 
Death, Page 10a 
Death 
1a 
Man Dies In Fall From Cross Valley 
Slew Of Violence, Accidents Mars Start Of '93

Jan. 2, 1992 New Years Accidents For Page 1a Death, Page 10a Death 1a Man Dies In Fall From Cross Valley Slew Of Violence, Accidents Mars Start Of '93