A Schuylkill County man charged with DUI homicide by vehicle in a May crash that killed his passenger in Berks County will face the charges in county court.
Bradley Gherghel, 23, of Pottsville, appeared briefly Wednesday at District Court in Bernville for a stipulated hearing. All charges were bound for Berks County Court. Formal arraignment is scheduled for Sept. 2.
Gherghel remains free on $100,000 unsecured bail, set at his arraignment earlier this month.
He is charged with felony counts of homicide by vehicle while DUI, aggravated assault by vehicle while DUI, homicide by vehicle and aggravated assault by vehicle. He also faces misdemeanor counts of DUI with a blood-alcohol content of .16% or greater and DUI unsafe driving, along with seven summary traffic violations.
Troopers with State Police-Reading say they were dispatched just before 2 a.m. on May 24 to Bernville Rd. (Route 183) in Bernville after a 9-1-1 hang-up call, and that dispatchers soon upgraded the call to a crash with entrapment. Police say they found a black 2025 Tesla Model 3 roughly five feet off the roadway against a tree, with the heaviest damage to the front passenger side.
First responders mechanically extricated Gherghel’s passenger, 23-year-old Keenan Cryts, of Pottsville, from the front-right seat shortly before 2:30 a.m. Police say the passenger was not wearing a seatbelt and was unconscious. He was taken to Reading Hospital and died later that night. The Berks County Coroner’s Office determined he died of blunt force injuries.
Gherghel was standing on the shoulder of the road when troopers arrived, police say. Police reported detecting the odor of alcohol on his breath and person and said he was swaying, slurring his words and had watery, bloodshot eyes.
Gherghel told police he and his passenger were driving home from the Deer Lake Pub along Route 61, which they left around 1:30 a.m., and that he was traveling about 30 to 40 mph when he slid into a tree. He said he had two or three drinks before driving, according to police. Investigators say they found opened and unopened alcoholic beverage containers inside the car.
Toxicology results from a legal blood draw showed a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.191%, police say. A crash reconstruction and a review of the Tesla’s airbag-control module and camera data led investigators to allege the car left its lane multiple times and followed another vehicle too closely just before striking the tree.
ORIGINAL ARTICLE:
Schuylkill County Man Charged with DUI Vehicular Homicide in May Crash That Killed His Passenger in Berks County
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