Sep. 2—WILKES-BARRE TWP. — Surveillance footage from outside a Scranton tavern showed Zackery Vincent Thiede Laiuvara driving away in a vehicle that minutes later, crashed, killing his friend, Adam Nicholas Shaw, on an exit ramp of Interstate 81 in Wilkes-Barre Township on Aug. 23, according to court records.
As Wilkes-Barre Township police and the Pennsylvania State Police at Wilkes-Barre arrived at the crash scene, Laiuvara claimed Shaw, 26, of Plymouth, was the driver of the 2023 Mitsubishi Outlander, court records say.
Only state police investigators allege in court records Laiuvara was the operator, not Shaw.
Laiuvara was charged by the state police Friday with homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence, driving under the influence, false report to law enforcement to incriminate another, and three traffic violations. Laiuvara was arraigned by District Judge Thomas Malloy of Wilkes-Barre and remained jailed Tuesday at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility for lack of $150,000 bail.
According to the criminal complaint:
State police responded to a single vehicle crash on the Exit 168 off-ramp of Interstate 81 at about 2:30 a.m. Aug. 23, finding a Mitsubishi on the driver’s side against a concrete barrier and Shaw in front of the wrecked vehicle.
Police from Wilkes-Barre Township were the first to arrive at the scene.
Laiuvara claimed Shaw was driving and they were “cut off or hit” by another vehicle, the complaint says.
“Thiede Laiuvara related Shaw was driving,” according to the complaint.
Shaw was pronounced dead at the scene by the Luzerne County Coroner’s Office. Shaw died from multiple traumatic injuries due to a motor vehicle accident.
Investigators obtained information and video footage of Laiuvara and Shaw consuming alcohol at a tavern on Zerby Avenue, Kingston, at the Pittston Tomato Festival and at a tavern on Linden Street, Scranton.
Footage from outside the Scranton tavern showed Laiuvara getting into the driver’s seat of the Mitsubishi before the crash in Wilkes-Barre Township, the complaint says.
Investigators say the driver’s side seat belt was buckled and the passenger side seat belt was unbuckled. The Mitsubishi was estimated to be going 78 mph at the time of the crash, according to the complaint.
First responders further alleged they detected an odor of an alcoholic beverage on Laiuvara immediately after the crash.