Crime & Safety
Hellertown Woman Caused I-78 Crash, Police Say
Traffic was backed up on I-78 after Patricia Giraldo, of Hellertown, lost control of the car she was driving on the wet road and was struck by a tractor trailer near Hamilton Boulevard, state police said.
Written by Wendy Solomon
Two people were injured in an accident Thursday morning on Interstate 78 near Hamilton Boulevard in South Whitehall Township, according to state police at Fogelsville.
Patricia Elena Giraldo, 41, of Hellertown, was driving east on I-78 when she lost control on the wet roadway and crossed into the path of a tractor trailer driven by Peter Donald Dempster Jr., 41, of Moon Township in western Pennsylvania, police said.
Dempster's tractor trailer struck Giraldo's car and continued off the right shoulder and up an embankment, rolling onto the driver's side, police said.
Giraldo and a 15-year-old female passenger were taken to Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest to be treated for unknown injuries, police said.
Police said they will file charges against Giraldo.
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