Authorities this week arrested a man accused of causing a
crash last fall that killed a 20-year-old man in Bethlehem
.
Jose V. Jerez, 24, of Allentown, allegedly ran off after losing control during an attempted illegal pass about 6:50 p.m. Oct. 13, 2024, in the 700 block of Central Boulevard.
Although unable to immediately name him, witnesses saw Jerez lose control, strike a utility pole and drive up an embankment, Lehigh County District Attorney Gavin Holihan and Bethlehem police Chief Michelle Kott said in a news release. The witnesses then heard his passenger yelling for help and beeping the horn, and saw him trying to crawl from the wreckage, according to court records.
They drove the passenger, Ezequiel Hernandez-Cartagena, to an area hospital, where the Allentown resident underwent emergency surgery before being pronounced dead at 8:05 p.m., according to the court records outlining the allegations against Jerez.
Investigators finally learned Jerez was driving the silver 2009 Honda Accord and say DNA testing returned in June linked him to the vehicle. The testing also linked the car’s owner to the vehicle, authorities say, but she was not involved in the crash.
Jerez was in Lehigh County Jail on an unrelated matter Wednesday when he was arraigned in the fatal crash.
He is charged with felony accidents involving death or personal injury and homicide by vehicle; misdemeanor charges of involuntary manslaughter, reckless endangerment and receiving stolen property; and summary counts of reckless driving, driving on roadways laned for traffic, driving vehicle at safe speed and immediate notice of accident to police department involving injury or death.
Jerez was ordered jailed in lieu of $100,000 bail. A preliminary hearing was tentatively scheduled for July 22 for a district judge to determine if there is sufficient evidence to send the charges forward to trial in the Lehigh County Court of Common Pleas.
He is being represented by the Lehigh County Public Defenders Office.
This case was investigated by police officer Andrew DeFrank and will be prosecuted by Chief Deputy District Attorney V. Paul Bernardino III.
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