Alleged hit-and-run driver lies to police

Liberty, Pa. — A man who borrowed his friend's truck and wrecked it later lied about the crash to police, charges say.

Instead of admitting he crashed his friend's Ford F-250 last month, 40-year-old Justin Phillip Eck called police and claimed the truck had been stolen, said Trp. Aaron Mylan of state police at Montoursville.

According to court papers:

Eck contacted police on June 6 around 1 a.m. to report the stolen truck. He told police he'd borrowed the vehicle from a friend the previous day and had driven it to Fin, Fur and Feather Trading Post in Lock Haven. There he met another friend, Samual Thomas, to shoot a new rifle at the range, he told police. Eck put the keys in the truck's cup holder and left it unlocked while they were out shooting, he claimed.

When they returned, the truck was gone, Eck said.

Police already knew the truck had been abandoned after a hit-and-run crash in Brown Township in which the unknown driver fled. When they told Eck the truck was found wrecked alongside the road, he "did not appear surprised," Mylan noted.

They also questioned Eck's friend Thomas about the visit to the shooting range. Thomas said he hadn't talked to Eck in about a week and hadn't been to the range in months. Police confronted Eck, who admitted he had made up the story about the truck being stolen because he had crashed it.

Eck was charged with making a false written statement and two counts of making a false report.

Docket sheet