Man, 84, faces charge in fatal hit and run in Doylestown. What the in-car video showed
An 84-year-old Doylestown man is facing charges in a hit and run that killed a bicyclist riding along a borough road earlier this year.
Central Bucks Regional Police allege that Anthony Caulfield was driving his van shortly after 3 p.m. in the area of the 220 block of North Broad Street on January 6 when he struck 64-year-old Francis Patrick Montgomery, according to authorities.
When police arrived at the scene they found bystanders removing a purple and white Schwinn bike from the road. Police learned a vehicle, described as a white Honda van with Pennsylvania license plates, fled the scene, south on North Broad Street toward Main Street.
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Montgomery was transported to the hospital with injuries including a head fracture, broken ribs, and a nasal bone fracture, according to police. He was sedated on a ventilator in the Intensive Care Unit at Jefferson-Abington Memorial Hospital. He died of his injuries on Feb. 9.
While still on scene investigating the accident, authorities located suspected van, a 2012 Honda Odyssey,at North Main Street near North Broad Street, and identified the driver as Caulfield.
When police interviewed Caulfield he alleged that Montgomery was riding his bike in the middle of the road. Caulfield claimed he beeped his horn, but Montgomery refused to move to the opposite lane. Caulfield told the police officer that Montgomery slammed into his car as he passed the bicyclist.
"He wouldn't get out of the way and he had the whole lane to pull over into," Caulfield said, according to the affidavit. "He hit me. I did not hit him."
The day after the accident, police reviewed the van’s in-car camera system, which showed Caulfield driving into the opposite lane of travel in an attempt to to pass Montgomery. A thump from the impact is heard on the video and then the vehicle then accelerates away from the accident.
The video corroborated witnesses accounts.
Caulfield was arraigned June 28 on a felony count of accidents involving death or personal injury, and related misdemeanor offenses. He is also charged with three summary traffic violations. He is free on $75,000 unsecured bail.
His defense attorney, Robert Mancini, did not immediately respond to an email Thursday seeking comment.
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This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Doylestown man, 84, charged in fatal hit-and-run in Central Bucks County
