Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman and Lower Providence Police Chief Francis Carroll announce the arrest of Edwin Olivo for Homicide by Vehicle and related charges arising out of an April 27, 2015 motor vehicle collision on South Park Avenue in Lower Providence Township, Montgomery County.
Along with Homicide by Vehicle, the defendant is also charged with Accidents Involving Death While Not Properly Licensed, Recklessly Endangering Other Persons, and multiple summary violations of the Vehicle Code.
An investigation by Lower Providence Township Police and the Montgomery County Detective Bureau revealed that on the morning of the fatal crash, the defendant failed to properly secure the trailer component of his tractor-trailer before setting out from a business in Reading, Berks County. Shortly before 6:00 AM, the defendant was driving on South Park Avenue and failed to maintain his northbound lane of travel. When the defendant quickly attempted to turn back into his own lane, the improperly secured trailer detached from the defendant’s truck and struck the front of an oncoming vehicle travelling in the opposite direction. This vehicle was another tractor-trailer being driven by the victim, Jermon Jeffers. The impact of the trailer into the oncoming truck severed the cab from the tractor, causing traumatic injury to Mr. Jeffers, who was pronounced dead at the scene.
In addition, at the time of the crash the defendant was using a Pennsylvania driver’s license that he acquired when his original New York driver’s license was about to be suspended.
The collision closed this area of South Park Avenue for two days while state and local emergency crews cleaned up the chemicals that both vehicles had been transporting.
The case will be prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Douglas Lavenberg and Richard Bradbury.
The defendant was arraigned yesterday before Magisterial District Judge Cathleen Kelly Rebar. A preliminary hearing is pending.
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