Pickup Truck

A Bristol Township woman and her 6-year-old son were struck by a pickup truck Tuesday while crossing the street outside an elementary school after a holiday concert there, police said. Carol Tudico, 45, of Fairless Hills, suffered multiple injuries in the accident at 9:10 p.m. outside the James Buchanan Elementary School on Haines Road, Levittown. Tudico and her son had gone to see the woman's daughter, Janine, 9, perform in the holiday chorus. Carol Tudico remained in critical condition yesterday at Saint Mary Hospital, Langhorne.

A 70-year-old Vineland, N.J., bicyclist died Wednesday after being struck by a pickup truck on Route 555 in Franklin Township. Robert R. Schwinn was riding along the northbound side of Route 555 near Weymouth Road when a 1992 Ford F-150 pickup struck him from behind at 7:23 a.m., according to the Gloucester County Prosecutor's Office. Schwinn, who was wearing a helmet and safety reflector vest at the time of the collision, was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics from Underwood-Memorial Hospital in Woodbury.

A Bucks County police officer was injured Saturday when a stolen pickup truck rammed his car in Doylestown Township, state police said. Buckingham Township Officer Timothy Johnson was pursuing a Dodge Dakota believed to have been stolen in New Jersey. After the collison, the pickup's driver ran away; Dujuan Pedro Gratz, 23, of Piscataway, N.J., was arrested after forcing his way into a house on Shady Knoll Drive, police said. Johnson was treated at Doylestown Hospital and released.

An elderly Montgomery County man was hit by a pickup truck and killed Tuesday while he was out for a walk, according to Lower Salford police. Just before 7 p.m., John L. Wile, 81, of Harleysville, was struck by a Dodge Ram in front of a Wawa, on the 300 block of Main Street, police said. The driver, who was not identified by police, had left the Wawa and was pulling out from the parking lot when the accident occurred. Wile, was transported to Grand View Hospital in Sellersville.

State police are investigating an accident that killed two New Jersey women Saturday afternoon when the motorcycles they were riding were hit by a pickup truck that crossed into opposing traffic on a Maurice River Township highway in Cumberland County. Police identified the dead as Diane Allen, 53, of Mullica Hill, and Robin Ennis, 48, of Wenonah. A third victim, Michael Ennis, 53, of Wenonah, was critically injured and taken to Atlanticare Regional Medical Center, police said. Investigators said the pickup's driver, Joseph Moyer, 40, of Eldora, was driving south on State Highway 347 when he lost control on a curve and crashed into a group of northbound motorcyclists.

A Tabernacle woman was killed late Sunday night when a car in which she was riding - apparently being driven to elude police - slammed into a pickup truck driven by her brother, state police said. The car, with its headlights and taillights off and traveling at what police called "a high rate of speed," ran a stop sign at Routes 620 and 534 in Shamong, Burlington County, and hit the pickup truck, hurtling debris into a nearby apartment, police said. The debris injured a 10-year-old girl inside the apartment, they said.

Burlington Township police were busy yesterday following the antics of a 1979 Ford pickup and its two drivers. The saga began in front of the Prince Diner at Route 130 and Beverly Road, where, police said, the vehicle struck a sign post. Police were called to the scene and given a description of the vehicle, which was driven by its owner, Florence resident Shawn Puza. Two police officers arrested Puza, 44, on River Road and reported finding an open alcohol container in the truck.

Ever notice how popular you are when you drive a pickup? It's really remarkable. You get calls from obscure relatives who want to borrow your truck to haul a Louis-the-Something-or-Other armoire from Weirton, W. Va., to Backwater, N.J. The president of your high school class, whom you haven't seen since June 1967, suddenly appears at your door and wonders if he can use your pickup to get a load of mulch. Little League groundskeepers see you as a natural ally. You receive Telex messages from underdeveloped countries urgently requesting your pickup for the transport of political prisoners.

Two people were killed and two others were seriously injured when the pickup truck in which they were riding crashed into the rear of a stopped dump truck during heavy fog early yesterday in Cinnaminson. Pronounced dead of multiple injuries at the scene were Harold B. Samuels, 28, of Jones Avenue, Burlington City, and Philip Stroman, 26, of the first block of Holton Lane, Willingboro. Police said both were passengers in the cab of the pickup truck, which was northbound on Route 130 near Andover Road.

Question: Settle an argument. My brother says he thinks Hudson built a pickup truck after the war. I don't remember any such animal. Answer: Your brother wins the stuffed teddy bear on the top shelf. Hudson did, indeed, build a pickup truck in the late 1940s. Unlike the Ford and Chevy pickups of the era, the Hudson's body didn't differ much from its pleasure-car counterpart. It looks like a Hudson car with a pickup bed grafted on the back, and reminds you of two well-known pleasure car/pickup hybrids that came along later: the Ford Ranchero and Chevy El Camino.

By Darran Simon INQUIRER STAFF WRITER Authorities are seeking the public's assistance in identifying two men spotted returning a rented Dodge Ram pickup used as a getaway vehicle in a Camden homicide last month. The pair may be able to lead investigators to David Porrata, 33, of Camden, who is wanted for fatally shooting Franklin Parker, 36, also of Camden, at a Crown Fried Chicken on the 200 block of Broadway, the Camden County Prosecutor's Office and Camden Police said Friday.

SPRING, TEXAS - A newborn who was abducted from his dying mother after she was repeatedly shot outside a doctor's office in suburban Houston was found safe Tuesday night, investigators said. The healthy 3-day-old infant was found about six hours after his mother was fatally shot following an argument in a parking lot, Montgomery County District Attorney Brett Ligon said. Ligon wouldn't say where the infant was found, but said that the baby was being reunited with his father.

A female police officer shot and killed a suspect today in North Philadelphia after police said the man struck a Temple student and another officer's car on Broad Street with his pickup truck. A narcotics officer in an unmarked vehicle parked on Broad Street near Oxford first spotted the suspect as his blue pickup truck jumped a curb in a parking lot around 10:30 a.m., hit several parked cars, and then struck the male Temple student, according to police. The officer ran to the scene and attempted to get the suspect out of his truck, but he refused, and then struck the officer's vehicle.

The Dec. 17 shooting death of a 19-year-old man in Upper Fredrick Township during an angry confrontation was justified, the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office said today. It said a review determined that Angel Gonzalez acted in self defense when he shot and killed Zachary Joshua Levin and wounded Levin's stepfather Joshua Levin, 34. Gonzalez, 42, had been living with Joshua Levin's estranged wife, Roxann Levin, 45, at 1705 Snyder Ave. at the time. The District Attorney's Office provided the following account in a statement: That night, Roxann Levin texted her husband that she needed to be picked up because Gonzalez had thrown her out. A drunk Joshua Levin had Zachary drive him to the Snyder Avenue address and the pair got out, investigators believe, armed with baseball bats around 8 p.m. They chased Gonzalez from their car to his pickup truck about 25 yards away, where he retrieved his legally owned .40-caliber Ruger pistol.

2012 Dodge Ram 1500 Sport Quad Cab vs. 2012 Toyota Tundra Double Cab 4x4 : Battle of the big boys. Price: Dodge $35,900 ($30,010 base price); Toyota $34,000 ($30,560 base price). Conventional wisdom: A truck's a truck, right? Marketer's pitch: Dodge: "Meet our outperformers. " I could find no pitch for the Tundra on Toyota's website. I guess its pitch is no pitch. Reality: These are very different vehicles. Working different sides of the street : I couldn't have found two more different examples of modern truckdom if I tried.

A pickup truck ran off the road and slammed into a tree on Route 70 in Southampton, Burlington County, today, killing both people inside, State Police said. They said the crash involving a Chevrolet pick up occurred around 10:50 a.m. near Burrs Mill Road and the victims were dead at the scene. The cause of the crash is under investigation and more details are expected later.

Philadelphia police announced a $10,000 reward Thursday for information leading to the arrest and conviction of two men wanted in the fatal shooting of a 23-year-old man during a robbery last week in North Philadelphia. Police also released surveillance video of the gunmen who shot Alexander Martinez on Jan. 9 in the 3500 block of North Hutchinson Street. The assailants fled in a dark-colored pickup truck. Martinez, of the 3500 block of North 11th Street, was shot in the abdomen and later died at Temple University Hospital, police said.

THE BUTLER and Clark families say that they're prisoners in their Roxborough homes, their lives a "living hell" on a horseshoe-shaped street of tidy, brick twins. They blame each other. The Butlers keep their blinds shut, their young son indoors. The Clarks erected a vinyl fence and have a pair of binoculars sitting on a table beneath their dining-room window. The red and blue lights from police cruisers often glow through their closed curtains on Voigt Road. It's as if chaos is embedded in the brick and mortar there, the devil's hooves dug deep into the patches of grass between their homes - and all the cops, mediators, bosses and lawyers can't seem to shake him loose.

Along busy but scenic Route 413 in central Bucks County, a white "ghost" bike marks the spot where New York City bicyclist John Chapman, out for a leisurely ride with his bike club, was killed by a hit-and-run driver over Memorial Day weekend. With Chapman's killer still unidentified, the accident has continued to resonate with bicyclists from New York to Bucks County who have contributed about $25,000 for a reward fund. It has also focused renewed attention on the risks that cyclists face, even on country roads.

THIS IS ONE of those "life-in-the-big-city" tales in which you know you've been screwed, but don't know if it was a one-person operation or a group effort. Marco Federico was unquestionably screwed by the dirtbag who stole his 1998 Chevy C-1500 pickup truck from Carlisle Street in South Philly. But did the same guy strip the truck? And, my, what a coincidence that the truck went missing from Carlisle during the same period that the city was towing vehicles off the street! "It's weird to me," says Federico, 31, who lives at Broad and Reed streets and bikes to his architect job in Northern Liberties.