By Kurt Bresswein | For lehighvalleylive.com
Authorities have filed homicide by vehicle charges and other charges against the driver of a box truck whose passenger died in a crash Friday morning on Interstate 78 in Berks County.
Jamie Sanchez, 44, of Bridgeport, Connecticut, was arraigned from Reading Hospital and ordered held without bail, Pennsylvania State Police at Hamburg said.
The incident resulted in the sixth death in three days on the highway in the county, following two crashes that were related to each other Tuesday in which five motorists died.
Sanchez was driving a 2021 International at 5:42 a.m. Friday when he struck the left rear of a disabled tractor-trailer parked with its four-way hazard lights activated on the ramp from Route 61 South to I-78 West in Tilden Township, police said.
The passenger of the box truck was pronounced dead at the crash by the Berks County Coroner’s Office. Police said the release of the victim’s identity is pending notification of family.
The driver of the parked rig was a 42-year-old man from Fresno, California, and was not injured, according to police.
Sanchez was taken from the scene by ambulance to the hospital. Police said he was left in the custody of the Berks County Sheriff’s Office and will be committed to the Berks County Prison upon being discharged.
He was arraigned from the hospital by District Judge Kim Backenstoe on 11 charges, including felony homicide by vehicle, possession of a firearm with altered serial number, carrying a firearm without a license, prohibited possession of a firearm and receiving stolen property.
Police did not immediately provide additional information related to the firearm counts.
Sanchez is also charged with misdemeanor possession of a small amount of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia and drug possession, plus summary traffic offenses.
Court records did not immediately list a defense attorney. A preliminary hearing is tentatively scheduled for Dec. 27 before Backenstoe to determine if there is sufficient evidence to send the charges toward trial in Berks County Court.
In the crashes earlier this week, a 20-year-old South Whitehall Township man and 25-year-old Easton woman died when their vehicles were struck by a new school bus headed for delivery, which failed to stop for traffic, according to state police at Hamburg. A second chain-reaction crash left three people dead less than 10 miles west, as traffic was being forced to exit due to the earlier crash.