Driver Charged In Fatality, But Road Shares Blame

Map of Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States with township and municipal boundaries (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In a press conference aimed at Route 222 drivers but mostly at PennDOT, Berks County District Attorney John T. Adams announced Friday that police have filed homicide charges against the New Jersey trucker who caused the most horrific of several fatal accidents on that congested highway.

The Oct. 22, 2012, crash in Maidencreek Township killed Lauren Boyer, 45, of Richmond Township when a tractor-trailer squashed her stopped car into the stopped truck ahead of her.

It also injured three people, one of them still undergoing treatment and surgeries.

Earlier Friday, Northern Berks Regional Police filed charges of homicide by vehicle, involuntary manslaughter and related offenses against the truck driver, Emilio Perez-Pazmino, 62, of Jersey City.

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Northern Berks Regional To Cut 1 Officer, Keep 2 Older Cars

Map of Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States with township and municipal boundaries (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Bowing to pressure to cut costs, the Northern Berks Regional Police Commission is going to trim one police officer and forgo plans to replace two of the department’s older cars.

The commission unanimously approved a $1.95 million budget Wednesday that keeps spending at 2012 levels and is nearly $290,000 less than the draft version presented earlier this month.

The police commission, composed of elected officials from Ontelaunee and Maidencreek townships and Leesport, said the municipalities could not afford to pay more for police coverage in 2013 and earlier this month asked the department to find places to cut costs.

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Maidencreek Man Charged In Route 222 Road Rage Case

Map of Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States with township and municipal boundaries (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A Maidencreek Township man was arrested after he pointed a loaded handgun at a couple in another vehicle in a road rage incident on Route 222 in Richmond Township, authorities said Monday.

Travis Heebner, 26, of the 6200 block of Allentown Pike was stopped by Muhlenberg Township police as he entered Business Route 222 in the township shortly after the incident Sunday.

Police said they seized his 9 mm pistol, which was on his lap in a nylon holster when he was stopped. Heebner has a permit for the weapon, which had one round in the chamber and 15 more in its magazine, according to court records.

Muhlenberg police turned Heebner over to Fleetwood police, who responded to the victims’ 9-1-1 call because they patrol Richmond Township.

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Planners Want To Expand Project At Routes 222, 73

Berks Countytransportation planners want to expand the effort to improve the Routes 222 and 73

Map of Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States with township and municipal boundaries (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

intersection in Maidencreek Township to include widening a traffic choke point approaching the crossing.

The additional work would involve widening a milelong stretch of Route 222 to two lanes in each direction from where the limited-access highway ends in Ontelaunee Township to the Route 73 intersection. A bridge on the stretch also would need to be replaced.

PennDOT would need to move money around in its budget for Berks County to free up $705,000 for engineering plans needed for the work.

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