Homicide By Vehicle Arrest In Lower Providence Truck Crash

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.

Woman Dies After Crash On Thanksgiving Morning In Pottstown

Pottstown, PA – One woman died after a crash that occurred on Industrial Highway near Moser Road on Thanksgiving morning.

At approximately 1:40 a.m., Pottstown Police located an accident involving a silver Volvo occupied only by the driver, who did not survive the crash.

Police have withheld the driver’s information until the family of the victim can be notified.

Read more: http://www.timesherald.com/general-news/20141128/woman-dies-after-crash-on-thanksgiving-morning-in-pottstown

UPDATE: Driver Was Drunk And On Heroin At Time Of Tuesday’s Fatal Crash, Police Say

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Lancaster County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Thomas Gallagher Jr., according to officials and court records, was pressing his luck for years.

A decade-long history of alcohol-related legal troubles — including two DUI charges — weren’t stopping him from getting behind the wheel.

His own passengers, it was learned Thursday, were pleading with him to pull over Tuesday prior to a crash in West Lampeter that killed Meredith Demko, a recent high school graduate.

On Thursday afternoon, police filed additional charges of vehicular homicide while DUI. Gallagher’s blood-alcohol level was about three times the state’s legal limit at the time of the crash, documents show.

Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/lampeterstrasburg/news/update-driver-was-drunk-and-on-heroin-at-time-of/article_ba0f8728-0848-11e4-b1b6-0017a43b2370.html

More Than A Dozen Injured In Pennsylvania Turnpike Crashes

Tollgate at the Willow Grove interchange (exit 343) of the Pennsylvania Turnpike (Interstate 276) with Pennsylvania Route 611 in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

PHILADELPHIA, PA — Authorities say more than a dozen people were injured in traffic accidents involving several tractor-trailers and dozens of cars on the Pennsylvania Turnpike outside Philadelphia.

Abington Memorial Hospital spokeswoman Cindy Taing says the hospital received 16 patients, including five trauma patients. She says no one has life-threatening injuries.

The series of accidents backed up traffic for miles between the Bensalem and Willow Grove exits of the turnpike, the state’s primary east-west highway.

The crashes were reported just after 8 a.m., about five hours after a storm that dropped a foot of snow finally moved out. Speed restrictions enacted during the storm had been lifted at 6 a.m., but motorists say the roadway was very slick.

Read more: http://www.pottsmerc.com/general-news/20140214/updated-more-than-a-dozen-injured-in-pa-turnpike-crashes

Exeter School Van Struck In Pottstown Hit-And-Run

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Montgomery County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

POTTSTOWN — Two Exeter Township School District students were sent to the hospital Tuesday afternoon after the school van they were riding in was broadsided in a hit-and-run crash on Berks Street

Around 2:30 p.m., the Pottstown Police responded to the crash at the intersection of Glasgow and Berks streets.

Ted Mohn, the van’s driver, said he was stopped at the four-way intersection there, began heading west again on Berks Street when a car traveling south on Glasgow Street “jumped the gun” and struck him.

The van, which was taking students from Buxmont Academy in Lower Pottsgrove, sustained damage to the mid-rear section of its passenger side and ended up sideways pointing northwest on Berks Street.

Read more: http://www.pottsmerc.com/general-news/20140114/exeter-school-van-struck-in-pottstown-hit-and-run

Report: Traffic Deaths Rose In Pennsylvania And U.S. In 2012

Map of Pennsylvania, showing major cities and roads (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Pennsylvania’s increase in traffic deaths in 2012 was smaller than the rise nationwide — the first increase in U.S. fatalities since 2005, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported today.

The NHTSA reported a 3.3 percent increase in U.S. traffic fatalities for the year to 33,561 people killed, an increase of 1,082 from 2011.

Seventy-two percent of the increase — 778 of the 1,082 deaths — came in the first quarter of the year, and over half of those deaths were motorcyclists, bicyclists, pedestrians and other people not in vehicles, NHTSA reported. The agency noted that the first quarter of the year was also the warmest on record.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/news/transportation/2013/11/14/Report-Traffic-deaths-rose-in-Pennsylvania-and-U-S-in-2012/stories/201311140293#ixzz2kfoIVzGT

Six Killed In Allegheny National Forest Collision

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting McKean County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

State police in Kane, PA are trying to determine what caused a woman driving an SUV to cross the center line, striking a car head-on and killing six people, including two children.

Kathy Douglas, 36, of Kane was driving south on State Route 219 in the Allegheny National Forest about 4:30 p.m. Saturday when she struck a Pontiac Bonneville carrying four people, state police said on Sunday.  The Pontiac was torn apart and Ms. Douglas’ car spun clockwise until it stopped along the road.

Ms. Douglas’ 12-year-old daughter, Olivia Douglas, and 6-year-old nephew, Jarrett Costanzo, died at the scene.  Ms. Douglas and her 10-year-old son, whose name has not been released, were flown to local trauma centers.

All four occupants of the car died at the scene as well.  They were identified as Gary Beimel, 62; his wife, Elaine Beimel, 55; Ms. Beimel’s brother, David Cuneo, 54, and their aunt Florence Donachy, 81.  All four were from St. Marys, Pa.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/region/six-killed-in-crash-in-kane-701643/#ixzz2dl6chHz1

Off-Duty Bethlehem Police Officer Charged With DUI After Crash

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Northampton County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

An off-duty Bethlehem police officer was charged Wednesday with drunken driving, six days after he flipped his sport utility vehicle and crashed into three parked cars, according to city police.

Richard M. Hoffman, 34, had a blood-alcohol content of 0.16 percent, twice the state’s legal limit to drive, and admitted he had been drinking before he plowed into the cars at East Broad and High streets, police said.

Although the crash happened early in the morning of Aug. 8, Bethlehem police officials released no details about the crash until Wednesday, saying they needed the complete accident report before filing charges.

Hoffman is on paid administrative suspension with the department pending the outcome of the criminal charges against him, which include the highest rate of drunken driving, drunken driving and careless driving, according to police Chief Jason Schiffer. Police are also conducting an internal investigation, Schiffer said.

Read more: http://www.mcall.com/news/breaking/mc-t-bethlehem-police-officer-dui-crash-richard-ho-20130814,0,542254.story#ixzz2bzsFJTlX
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