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Man charged after fatal East Norriton crash involving pedestrian and tractor-trailer
A Philadelphia rideshare driver is accused of striking 29-year-old Ricardo Baptiste and leaving the scene in East Norriton on Sept. 6. Baptiste was then struck by a tractor-trailer and later died at a hospital, prosecutors said.
A 43-year-old Philadelphia man has been arrested in connection with a fatal hit-and-run in East Norriton, where prosecutors say a car struck a pedestrian who was then run over by a tractor-trailer.
Andy Nuñez Vasquez is accused of hitting Ricardo Baptiste, 29, at West Germantown Pike and Whitehall Road on Sept. 6 and leaving without stopping, according to Montgomery County prosecutors. Baptiste died at a hospital after the crash.
East Norriton police arrived at about 9:10 p.m. and found Baptiste unresponsive in the road with fractures and lacerations. Investigators said surveillance video showed a white sedan with a burned-out right rear taillight hit Baptiste on his driver’s side as he crossed the street. After he fell, a tractor-trailer traveling on Germantown Pike struck him and drove over him, officials said.
Detectives used license-plate reader information and PennDOT records to identify the sedan as a 2015 Hyundai Sonata owned by Vasquez, who works as a rideshare driver. Phone and rideshare records placed him near the crash when it was reported, investigators said.
Vasquez faces four charges. If convicted, he could face a minimum of three years in prison and a $2,500 fine, according to the information provided by prosecutors. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for Nov. 2.
The charges are allegations, and Vasquez is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.