Crime & Public Safety
The cause of the crash is currently under investigation.
Bucks County officials have identified the victim of a fatal crash that occurred early Sunday morning at the intersection of Green Street and Rickerts Road in Hilltown Township.
Police said they initially spotted an unregistered Polaris vehicle on Green Street at the intersection with Mill Road at 1 a.m. on June 2 and attempted to initiate a traffic stop, after observing the vehicle veer partially off the road. Police said they had “concerns of possible impairment and the driver’s ability to safely operate the vehicle,” according to a Thursday press release from the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office.
The vehicle then fled down Green Street and attempted to make a right turn on Rickerts Road, but the driver lost control and flipped the vehicle, according to investigators. Both occupants of the vehicle were partially ejected in the rollover crash, with the passenger — identified as 35-year-old Joseph Kay, of Hilltown — being pronounced dead at the scene.
The press release noted that Kay was a volunteer firefighter with Plumsteadville Fire Company.
“We would like to extend our condolences to the family of Mr. Kay, who had been a volunteer firefighter for the Plumsteadville Fire Company,” reads a portion of the release.
The driver, whom police have not identified, suffered minor injuries but refused medical treatment, investigators said. An autopsy on Wednesday listed Kay’s cause of death as blunt force trauma.
The crash is currently under a joint investigation by the district attorney’s office and the Hilltown Township Police Department.
