LOWER NAZARETH TWP., Pa. — A 27-year-old driver who was speeding away from police was charged with homicide by vehicle and related crimes in the killing of a 67-year-old woman in a head-on crash, state police said.
Daneiris Abreu, 27, of the Bronx, N.Y., operated the Mercedes-Benz that lost control and went into the opposite lane of Hecktown Road on Tuesday morning, according to court records.
Killed was Susan I. Henderson, of Norristown, who was driving a Kia Sportage westbound in the 4100 block of Hecktown Road.
A Colonial Regional Police police officer tried to pull over the Mercedes after the officer noticed an expired inspection sticker on the car while traveling on Route 191, state police said.
After following the Mercedes after it turned onto Hecktown Road, the officer activated his emergency lights and siren and reached a speed of about 80 mph during the pursuit before the Mercedes pulled away, according to court records.
The officer lost sight of the vehicle but as he continued past the Green Pond Road intersection, he came upon the head-on wreckage that had just occurred about 10:30 a.m., state police said. Abreu got out of the car while his unidentified front-seat passenger was still trapped inside, the records say.
“Look what I did,” Abreu said later as he sat in a police vehicle before being taken to the hospital, according to state police. He said he was driving with a suspended license and didn’t know why he fled, other than being scared, the records say.
His passenger suffered leg burns and other injuries and was admitted to the intensive care unit at St. Luke’s - Anderson, according to state police.
Henderson was taken by ambulance to St. Luke’s, where she was pronounced dead.
Abreu was arraigned in district court on several other charges including aggravated assault by vehicle, fleeing or attempting to elude police, and involuntary manslaughter. He was ordered to Northampton County Prison late Tuesday in lieu of $300,000 bail.
