Truck driver charged with vehicular homicide in 2023 crash on Route 33 that killed three

A tractor-trailer driver will next be charged with vehicular homicide reportedly caused a collision in March 2023 that left three people dead along Route 33 – just north of the Northampton-Monroe county line – near Saylorsburg, Monroe County.

Aside from three felony counts of vehicular homicide, 36-year-old Mark Anthony Rideout Jr. of Philadelphia also charged with three felony counts of vehicular homicide while intoxicated; three counts of involuntary manslaughter; three counts misdemeanor DUI; five counts of reckless endangerment; and various summary traffic violations.

Rideout was arraigned Wednesday afternoon before District Judge Paul J. Gasper, who denied bail. He was then taken to the Monroe County Jail. Court records do not yet show attorney information for Rideout.

Pennsylvania State Police said the crash happened on March 1, 2023, as Rideout crossed from Route 33 south into the northbound lanes – between Saylorsburg and Route 209 – in Hamilton Township, Monroe County. It then hit another tractor-trailer, a pickup truck and two passenger cars, state police said.

Investigators determined that while traveling south, Rideout drove off the highway and struck an embankment before returning to the southbound lanes in the Hamilton Township portion of the highway, state police said. He then struck the median guardrail and entered the northbound lanes of Route 33, striking four vehicles on the northbound side near mile 20.6 before coming to a stop.

Two of the northbound vehicles remained underneath the truck, one was on the right shoulder of Route 33 north, just north of the crash site, and the last vehicle was in the right lane in front of the truck, the release said. state police.

Bryan Franco, 25, of Hellertown, and Samantha Crich, 40, of Wilkes-Barre, were both driving vehicles that ended up underneath the tractor-trailer, state police said. Franco was taken to Lehigh Valley Hospital-Pocono in East Stroudsburg, while Crich was taken to Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest in East Stroudsburg. Municipality of Salisbury with injuries.

Both were later pronounced dead at the hospital, Monroe County Coroner Tom Yanac Jr. had said. said. A 14-year-old passenger in the front seat of Crich’s car was pronounced dead at the scene, Yanac had said. The teen’s identity has not been released by authorities.

Crich died of multiple blunt force injuries as a result of the crash and her death was ruled accidental Lehigh County Coroner said Daniel Buglio. The teenage girl died from multiple blunt force trauma and the case was ruled a homicide by Yanac.

Franco was remembered by family, coaches, friends and relatives as a football player, known to his loved ones as a modest, driven personality, both on and off the field. He played for Reading Football Club in his youth and later for Reading’s FC Revolution competition. He played all four years for the Reading High School Red Knights.

Rideout is due back in court for a preliminary hearing tentatively scheduled for Nov. 20 at 10:30 a.m. before Gasper. A judge will then determine if there is enough evidence to send the case to the Monroe County Court of Common Pleas.

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Pamela Sroka-Holzmann can be reached at [email protected].