Penn State student charged with vehicular homicide in State College crash released from jail
A Penn State student charged with vehicular homicide in the death of a fellow student was released Wednesday from the Centre County Correctional Facility, the jail’s warden said, after he posted $3 million bail.
Ahmed Alqubaisi, 20, of the United Arab Emirates, was required to be fitted with a GPS monitoring bracelet before he was released. He is barred from leaving Centre County, may not operate a vehicle and must surrender his passport and visa.
Alqubaisi was released shortly after 9 a.m., Warden Glenn Irwin said.
Alqubaisi’s bail is thought to be among the highest in recent Centre County history. Three longtime attorneys who practice in Centre County told the Centre Daily Times they could recall only one other case where bail was set at a higher amount.
Alqubaisi, who is suspended from Penn State, has no other ties to the United States. A State College police detective expressed concern during Alqubaisi’s preliminary arraignment last month he may flee the state.
Bail was set by Centre County President Judge Jonathan Grine, who signed off on an agreement between county prosecutors and Alqubaisi’s lawyers.
He is accused of speeding when he slammed his 2024 BMW M3 into Lovisa Arnesson-Cronhamre as she jogged Sept. 12 along the 200 block of East Park Avenue, State College police wrote in an affidavit of probable cause.
Neither investigators nor Centre County prosecutors have offered an estimate of how fast Alqubaisi was driving on the wet road adjacent to campus, but a detective wrote it was “a higher rate of speed than would be deemed safe in that area.”
Alqubaisi was driving westbound when he lost control of his vehicle, crossed the eastbound lane and hit Arnesson-Cronhamre as she jogged on the sidewalk, police wrote.
Arnesson-Cronhamre, 25, of Sweden, was a doctoral student studying architectural engineering, a Penn State spokesperson wrote in an email. She was an alumna of the University of Glasgow in Scotland, the university’s student newspaper reported.
She graduated with a degree in astrophysics and was active in the university’s weightlifting club, the newspaper reported. She had two sisters and a brother, her mother said during Alqubaisi’s bail hearing last week.
Arnesson-Cronhamre’s family opposed bail being set, circulating an online petition that garnered signatures from thousands.
Her injuries, police wrote, included a brain bleed, broken neck, shattered right arm and broken foot. She was taken to Mount Nittany Medical Center before being flown by medical helicopter to UPMC Altoona, where she died.
Alqubaisi is an inexperienced driver, police wrote. He had a learner’s permit and did not have a licensed driver in the vehicle with him, as required.
During a bail hearing last week, his defense attorney said Alqubaisi’s family plans to pay for Arnesson-Cronhamre’s funeral and expressed condolences to her family.
He is also charged with with one misdemeanor count each of involuntary manslaughter and recklessly endangering another person, as well as two summary traffic violations.
His arraignment is scheduled for Oct. 25.
