Bicyclist Struck by Motor Vehicle in Middle; Driver Arrested

COURT HOUSE – At 11:05 p.m. Sept. 19, Middle Township police responded to the area of Shunpike Road and Stites Avenue, for a motor vehicle crash involving a vehicle and a bicyclist.  
According to a police department release, the driver of the vehicle left the scene and continued to drive south on Shunpike Road. 
At 11:12 p.m., Middle Township police responded to the 300 block of Stagecoach Road, for a report of a motor vehicle that struck a parked vehicle in a driveway. The vehicle, matching the description from the previous accident, was observed leaving the scene, continuing to travel west on Stagecoach Road.  
Officers responding to the area were able to locate the vehicle in the front yard of the home in the 70th block of S. Route 47 after it struck a retaining wall, causing the vehicle to become inoperable.  Officers found the vehicle unoccupied, and the driver was believed to have fled on foot. 
After an extensive search the driver, Paul Koscinski, 21, of Green Creek, was later located and arrested.  The bicyclist, whose identity was being withheld as of Sept. 20, was transported to AtlantiCare Medical Center City Division, with life-threatening injuries. 
Koscinski was charged with assault by auto. 
The Middle Township Crash Team and Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office Crime Scene Unit are investigating the crash.  The New Jersey State Police Aviation Bureau and the Cape May County Sheriff’s Office K-9 Unit assisted with the search for Koscinski.
The above is based on information received from a law enforcement agency. The person named is innocent unless proven otherwise.