By NATASHA BRENNEMAN
From staff reports
An Emlenton man accused of setting his car on fire after a hit-and-run crash waived his preliminary hearing Tuesday.
The charges against Bryce William Dittman, 19, will now be bound over for court.
Dittman faces a felony charge of reckless burning or exploding – places or property exceeding $5,000, along with various summary charges.
According to a criminal complaint, state police Trooper John Dubovi was dispatched on March 25 at 1:49 p.m. to Bartow Road, Perry Township, Clarion County, on a report of an abandoned and burned vehicle near Buttermilk Falls.
In the complaint, Dubovi said that he found a Mitsubishi Eclipse that had been burned.
The owner of the property where the car was found discovered a Pennsylvania registration plate, but the third letter of the plate was unreadable, the complaint said.
Clarion state police received a report of a hit-and-run on March 27 and that the complainant said that his vehicle was hit by a Mitsubishi Eclipse in Perry Township on March 23, according to the complaint.
The complainant told police that the driver of the other car was Dittman, the complaint said.
On March 28, the complaint said, Dubovi interviewed Dittman, who said that his girlfriend was driving the car when it crashed. He also said that his girlfriend parked the car at the scene of the accident and it was later stolen, the complaint said.
Later that same day, Dittman’s girlfriend told Dubovi she was not operating the car at the time of the accident, according to the complaint. She told Dubovi that Dittman called her and told her that he was involved in the crash and that he got rid of the vehicle, the complaint said.
After Dittman’s girlfriend saw a photo of the burned car on his phone, the complaint said, Dittman admitted to burning the car.