An Allentown man is accused of crashing a vehicle into a utility pole last year in Bethlehem and leaving behind his badly injured passenger, who later died.
Jose Vladmir Jerez, 24, faces multiple charges in the Oct. 13 crash in the 700 block of Central Boulevard that resulted in the death of Ezequiel Hernandez-Cartagena, 20, of Allentown, Lehigh County District Attorney Gavin Holihan announced Wednesday.
Police found a sedan, which was registered to a Bethlehem woman not involved in the crash, up an embankment in woods on the north side of the road just before 7 p.m. The car had hit a utility pole and sustained significant damage. There was blood in the car, but no one was in it at the time, authorities said.
A short time later police were notified that a man who had been in a crash — later identified as Hernandez-Cartagena — had been brought to a hospital emergency room. Hernandez-Cartagena later died from his injuries.
Police determined that Hernandez-Cartagena and a group of people were at an Allentown park before the crash with a man they only knew by the nickname “Los Ten,” who was later identified as Jerez, according to Holihan.
The group left the park in three vehicles, and Hernandez-Cartagena was a passenger in the car Jerez was driving. Members of the group said they saw Jerez “making an erratic movement to attempt to pass a vehicle in front of him” when he lost control and hit the utility pole, Holihan said.
The witnesses said Jerez fled while “Hernandez-Cartagena yelled for help and beeped the horn.” They then drove Hernandez-Cartagena to the hospital, according to Holihan.
Jerez is charged with homicide by vehicle, accidents involving death or personal injury, involuntary manslaughter, recklessly endangering another person and receiving stolen property. He also faces summary charges including reckless driving.
He was in Lehigh County Jail on an unrelated matter and was arraigned Wednesday, Holihan said.
The case was investigated by Bethlehem police officer Andrew DeFrank and will be prosecuted by Chief Deputy District Attorney V. Paul Bernardino III.
