Search fatalities

Julian A. Rodriguez

Age : 21

Gender : Male

Race : Latino/a/e

Date : 12/07/2021

Location : Interstate 78 at Exit 40

City : Greenwich Township

County : Berks

State : Pennsylvania

Agency : Pennsylvania State Police

Officer(s) :Not Disclosed

Cause of Death : Vehicle

Event : Driver killed by police chase crash

OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :

.
REASON WHY PURSUIT WAS INITIATED:
Pennsylvania State Police troopers encountered Rodriguez stopped on an Interstate 78 entrance ramp in Upper Macungie Township. When troopers approached the vehicle, Rodriguez drove away. The available reporting does not establish why troopers initially approached the stopped vehicle.
.
EVENT NARRATIVE:
On 12/07/2021, at approximately 12:30 a.m., Pennsylvania State Police troopers encountered 21-year-old Julian A. Rodriguez stopped in a vehicle on an Interstate 78 entrance ramp in Upper Macungie Township. When troopers approached, Rodriguez drove away, and state police escalated a pursuit that continued through Lehigh County and into Berks County.
.
The pursuit continued westbound on Interstate 78 to Exit 40 in Greenwich Township. Rodriguez exited the interstate at high speed, lost control of the vehicle and crashed.
.
Rodriguez suffered critical injuries and was transported to Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest, where he died shortly before 2 a.m. He was subsequently identified as Julian Rodriguez, 21, of San Juan, Puerto Rico.
.
TOTAL FATALITIES/INJURIES:
1 Fatality.
.
DISPOSITION:
No criminal charges against Pennsylvania State Police troopers for their role in initiating and continuing the pursuit were identified.
.
OFFICER BACKGROUND:
Pennsylvania State Police did not publicly identify the trooper who initiated the pursuit or the other trooper(s) who participated in it.
.
LITIGATION:
None found.

SOURCE LINKS :

https://www.lehighvalleylive.com/bethlehem/2021/12/driver-dies-after-3-county-state-police-pursuit-ends-in-crash-off-i-78.html
https://www.wfmz.com/news/area/lehighvalley/police-chase-ends-in-fatal-crash-off-i-78/article_b8583b02-5816-11ec-bd66-1f4a0638c3b1.html
https://www.mcall.com/2021/12/08/police-chase-fatal-crash-bethlehem-i78/
https://www.lvpnews.com/20211224/driver-killed-in-one-vehicle-greenwich-township-crash/