When his car got stuck in Scott Twp. early last Friday, a Dunmore man walked up the street, stole a car that he quickly crashed into a tree and a ditch, then returned to his own car and fell asleep behind the wheel, police said.

Scott Twp. police Lt. Jared Ganz followed footprints from the severely damaged Hyundai Sonata, which still had the keys in its ignition and its transmission in drive, in front of 39 Grzybowski Road and found himself at a Pontiac Grand Am at Grzybowski and Dennis roads, according to a criminal complaint.

Lt. Ganz found Robert Wazny, 22, 200 Sunset Drive, Dunmore, slumped over the steering wheel asleep and, after a few tries, woke him to ask if he had tried to steal the Hyundai.

He had been drinking and his car got stuck, Mr. Wazny explained, then he walked up the road looking for help sometime between 3 and 4 a.m., according to the complaint.

Though the owner of the Hyundai had reported hearing a commotion outside his home around that time, Mr. Wazny denied breaking into and crashing the car.

When he refused to get out of his Pontiac, Lt. Ganz pulled him from the vehicle and took him to police headquarters where he asked for a lawyer and was eventually released, according to the complaint.

At that point, the complaint states Mr. Wazny went to an impound lot where he bypassed "No Trespassing" signs and walked to the Hyundai and tried to wipe his fingerprints from it.

On Wednesday, Mr. Wazny returned to the police station and confessed in a written statement to both the car theft as well as the evidence tampering, according to the complaint.

He was arraigned on charges of theft by unlawful taking and tampering with physical evidence.

He was released on $10,000 unsecured bail and a preliminary hearing was set for Tuesday.
