Pickup Truck

A Havertown man was charged Wednesday with being the hit-and-run driver who struck and injured a 46-year-old Bryn Mawr woman and her 5-year-old twins while they were crossing Lancaster Avenue at Bryn Mawr Avenue in Bryn Mawr on April 25. Stephen John Groch, 27, of Ellis Road, was charged by Lower Merion police. He was the alleged driver of a black Ford F-150 pickup truck that hit the three before driving off. The mother and one daughter were treated at Bryn Mawr Hospital for bumps and bruises.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

A Havertown man was charged Wednesday with being the hit-and-run driver who struck and injured a 46-year-old Bryn Mawr woman and her 5-year-old twins while they were crossing Lancaster Avenue at Bryn Mawr Avenue in Bryn Mawr on April 25. Stephen John Groch, 27, of Ellis Road, was charged by Lower Merion police. He was the alleged driver of a black Ford F-150 pickup truck that hit the three before driving off. The mother and one daughter were treated at Bryn Mawr Hospital for bumps and bruises.

A WEST CHESTER man with seven prior drunken-driving arrests was drunk and driving with a suspended license when he fatally hit a motorcyclist in April, Chester County District Attorney Thomas P. Hogan said yesterday. Robert Elwood Landis, 49, of Concord Road near Oakbourne, now is charged with homicide by vehicle, driving under the influence and related offenses in the death of Liam James Crowley, 24, on April 26 in Westtown Township, Hogan said. Landis was driving a 2004 Dodge Ram pickup south on Wilmington Pike when he turned into traffic at Stanton Avenue and hit Crowley, who suffered multiple traumatic injuries despite wearing a helmet, Hogan said.

BRICK, N.J. - A South Jersey police officer is recovering from injuries he suffered when he was dragged about 250 feet by a pickup truck driven by a man who later led officers on a high-speed chase through several towns, authorities said. Brick Patrolman Mark Nixon suffered a fractured rib, a sprained knee, a bruised elbow, and multiple abrasions in the incident last Thursday, which was made public Wednesday. Authorities say Nixon stopped the truck driven by Ronald DeFreitas of Toms River, who soon learned there was a warrant for his arrest.

Two Chester County teenagers who were seriously injured in a two-vehicle collision on Kings Highway in Caln Township Wednesday night remain hospitalized this afternoon. Around 8:30 p.m. a 1994 Ford F250 pickup truck driven by Jonathan Norton, 18, left the road and hit a utility pole, Caln police said. A second pickup, a Ford F150 driven by 17-year-old Zach Miles, also left the road, hitting a utility pole and a car parked in a driveway. Norton and the juvenile, who was not identified, were taken to Paoli Hospital.

A 76-year-old Philadelphia woman died Wednesday afternoon, hours after she was struck by a pickup truck in Frankford, according to police. The woman was walking across Aramingo Avenue near Milnor Street when she was struck about 6:10 a.m. She suffered "massive internal injuries" and was pronounced dead at 1:10 at Aria Health-Torresdale Campus, police said. The driver of the Ford F-150, identified as a 60-year-old man, remained at the scene and cooperated with authorities, police said.

A woman crossing Aramingo Avenue in Philadelphia's Frankford section early this morning died a short time after being struck by a passing pickup truck, police said this afternoon Police said the woman, 60, was crossing about 6:08 a.m. when she was hit by the white, Ford 150 truck. The motorist remained at the scene until police arrived. The woman was taken to Aria Health's Torresdale campus, where she died at 1:10 p.m., police said. Her identity has not been released. Contact the Breaking News Desk at 215-854-2443; BreakingNewsDesk@philly.com . Follow @phillynews on Twitter.

LONDON - A British couple's round-the-world cycling odyssey ended in tragedy when both of them were killed in a road accident in Thailand. Peter Root and Mary Thompson, who had been chronicling their journey in a blog, died Wednesday when they were hit by a pickup truck in a province east of Bangkok, Thai police said Monday. The couple, both 34 and from Guernsey in the Channel Islands, left Britain in July 2011 and had cycled through Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia and China.

LOS ANGELES - There was no question. The man standing before Rick Heltebrake on a rural mountain road was Christopher Dorner. Clad in camouflage from head to toe and wearing a bulletproof vest packed with ammunition, the most-wanted man in America over the last week was just a few feet away, having emerged from a grove of trees holding a large, assault-style rifle. As teams of officers who had sought the fugitive ex-Los Angeles police officer since last week were closing in, Dorner pointed the gun at Heltebrake and ordered him to get out of his truck.

LOS ANGELES - There was no question. The man standing before Rick Heltebrake on a rural mountain road was Christopher Dorner. Clad in camouflage from head to toe and wearing a bulletproof vest packed with ammunition, the most wanted man in America over the last week was just a few feet away, having emerged from a grove of trees holding a large, assault-style rifle. As teams of officers who had sought the fugitive ex-Los Angeles police officer since last week were closing in, Dorner pointed the gun at Heltebrake and ordered him to get out of his truck.

With no arrests in the case of a Bucks County home invasion that left a man dead, police are asking for residents' help. On Friday, Joseph Canazaro was killed and his girlfriend and 12-year-old son were tied up and held at gunpoint in the basement of Canazaro's Hilltown home. The robbers took several guns from Canazaro's collection and fled in his pickup truck before abandoning it at the Quakertown Shopping Center. Authorities are examining surveillance tapes from stores near where Canazaro's truck was found and are asking the public for information about any suspicious activity early Friday morning near Canazaro's home on the 300 block of Swartley Road, or later at the shopping center.