THE man who fled the scene after crashing a pickup truck he was driving and left behind three injured minors was charged with, among others, homicide by vehicle.
One of the three passengers was a 17-year-old who was pronounced dead at the hospital. The two other passengers are 16 years old.
The Department of Public Safety, in a statement on Monday, did not provide names, but Variety learned that the driver was Andrei Camacho, 18.
DPS stated that the cause of the crash was speed and driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol.
On Sunday, Aug. 14, 2022, at about 12:08 a.m., DPS units were dispatched to a reported auto-ran off in Marpi along Chalan Kalabera with four occupants involved in the crash and with one occupant still in the vehicle.
At the scene, officers met with two male teenagers who stated that they were in pain. The two individuals asked the officer to check on the third passenger still inside the vehicle which was further up the road.
The officers saw a silver Toyota Tacoma pickup truck, with extensive damage, in a ditch near the roadway. The officers also noticed that the passenger inside the vehicle was unresponsive.
All three passengers were transported to the Commonwealth Healthcare Corporation where Dr. Nelson pronounced one of the victims dead on arrival at about 1:36 a.m. due to blunt force trauma.
The officers later learned from the two passengers that the driver “disappeared” and was nowhere to be found following the crash.
On the same day, the driver of the vehicle turned himself in to DPS around 4 p.m.
DPS said the driver is being charged with failure to maintain the right side of the highway, reckless driving, driving under the combination of drugs and alcohol, seatbelt violation, hit and run, homicide by vehicle, and refusal to submit to a blood test.
The investigation is still ongoing, DPS added.
