Cheltenham Police and the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office have announced a joint investigation into a fatal single-vehicle crash that killed a 19-year-old Abington Township resident early Sunday morning.
Police responded to the single-vehicle crash on Greenwood Avenue in Cheltenham Township at 1:34 a.m. on Jan. 23. Arriving police found all five occupants of vehicle suffering from serious injuries, with all five being transported to area hospitals including one being airlifted to Penn-Presbyterian for treatment.
One of the victims, identified as 19-year-old Nicholas Bednarek, of Abington, was pronounced dead later that morning at Abington Memorial Hospital. The other victims ages were between 17 and 19 years old, investigators said.
Police said the initial investigation into the crash found that the 2006 Honda was being driven by an unidentified 18-year-old male when it crossed a bridge, went around a curve, left the right side of the roadway, sideswiped a guardrail and struck two side-by-side utility poles. The impact was strong enough to break both poles in multiple parts, investigators said.
Police said they found multiple open alcohol containers inside of the vehicle.
“This is every parent’s worst nightmare, and our hearts go out to Nicholas’s family and the other families. We pray for a full recovery of all of the young people,” said Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele. “These crash investigations, especially one involving a death, take time, and we are in the early stages of the investigation.”
An autopsy on Bednarek was performed on Monday morning by Dr. Kahlil Wardak, of the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office, with the cause of death being listed as multiple blunt impact injuries.
Officials said the investigation is expected to take some time.
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