State Police filed charges Thursday against the driver of an SUV involved in a crash on Seltzer Rd. back in January in which a child was ejected from the vehicle.
A third-degree felony charge of aggravated assault by vehicle was filed Thursday against 19-year-old Christopher Cicero, of Pottsville, according to an affidavit filed by Trooper Andrew Hubiak.
Cicero was the driver of a Buick Enclave that was going south on Seltzer Rd. at about 12:30 p.m. on Jan. 6 when it slid going around a right curve in the road, police say. The vehicle’s rear passenger-side quarter panel then struck the front driver-side bumper of a vehicle traveling north at the time.
According to our report at the time of this crash, it had begun snowing about an hour before this crash happened.
When the vehicles struck each other, a 6-year-old girl riding as a passenger in Cicero’s vehicle was ejected. She was taken by ambulance to Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest.
At the hospital, Trooper William Moyer from State Police-Fogelsville interviewed Nicole Cicero, who said she was the front seat passenger in the vehicle at the time of the crash. She said Christopher was her step-son and driving at the time of the crash. There were three child passengers in the vehicle at the time, aged 6, 10, and 11. Cicero reportedly told police that the three children were wearing seat belts but not using booster seats or any form of a child safety seat.
Police then conducted a PennDOT search of Christopher Cicero’s driving record and found that he was allegedly driving on a suspended license at the time of the crash. They also learned that Cicero was also cited for driving with a suspended license on Nov. 22, 2023.
At about 3 p.m. on the day of the crash, Christopher Cicero was interviewed at Lehigh Valley Hospital-East in Pottsville. During that interview, Cicero allegedly told police that he was driving to McDonald’s to get the three child passengers Happy Meals and believed he was driving between 25-30 miles per hour at the time of the crash.
While en route to McDonald’s, Cicero reportedly told police during his interview that the back side of the vehicle slid and kicked out. He tried to correct the vehicle but couldn’t and it struck the oncoming vehicle on Seltzer Rd.
The driver of the other vehicle was interviewed by police on Jan. 8. She reportedly told police that her airbags deployed when the vehicle driven by Cicero struck hers. When she got out of her vehicle, she told police that she saw a man holding a child that appeared to be injured in the crash.
In addition to the charge of felony vehicular aggravated assault, Christopher Cicero is also facing the following:
- Accident involving death or injury while not licensed-acting with negligence (second-degree misdemeanor)
- 3 counts of endangering the welfare of children (first-degree misdemeanor)
- Careless driving-serious bodily injury (summary)
- Careless driving (summary)
- Driver allowed child 8-17 years old to not use seat belt system (summary)
- Driving at a safe speed (summary)
- Driving without a license (summary)
- Disregarding traffic lane (summary)
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Aug. 27 before District Magistrate David Plachko.
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