Camden Fire Department - Hit-and-Run Accident on I-676

This page and the other pages in this series are the successors to the series of web-page about the Camden Fire Department that began with the page Camden Fire Department: The Fires of the Summer of 2011. On this and other pages in the series you will find pictures and information regarding different events and aspects of the fire service in Camden, New Jersey.

It is a sad reality that bad things happen to good people. I was asked once if I enjoyed taking pictures of people being hurt, the answer is obviously and emphatically no. Some of the photos here are graphic, it is a "graphic" world. Why post them, then?

I post them because it is IMPORTANT for the general public to know what goes on, not to wallow in the sensationalism evidenced in local television news coverage, but to understand what happens. More importantly, the general public needs to understand that the first responders in these incidents- Fire, EMS, and Police-. are not automatons. They work in spaces… physical and psychological… that through the grace of God the rest of the population does not have to occupy. When you look at these pictures, know there are victims, and sadly, in this case one fatality. Know also that there are dedicated men and women doing there best to save lives and ameliorate pain and suffering. This page and these photos are their story.

The Camden Fire department responds to a great many other emergency situations than fires. These include gas leaks, downed wires, children locked in cars, innumerable false alarms and alarm malfunctions, and countless other circumstances where the safety of the public must be attended to. This also includes traffic accidents, and sadly all to often these result in the serious injury or death of parties involved. Dealing with life and death situations is a daily occurrence for Fire and EMS personnel in the City of Camden and elsewhere.

I had stopped to chat with the fellows at Engine 10 on Saturday morning when the call came in for an accident on Route 676 northbound just short of the Atlantic Avenue exit. On arrival it was discovered that an SUV had rear ended a passenger car, seriously injuring those inside. The driver of the SUV got out of his vehicle, looked at the damage to the car, then fled from the scene of the accident.

There were several injured people in the car, one quite seriously. Fire and EMS personnel tended to the victims as quickly and efficiently as possible, sadly, one young woman who had been seated in the back seat of the passenger car was so badly injured that she died a few hours after being transported to Cooper Trauma Center.

I was on scene and had taken some pictures. The State Police got statements from all witnesses available, and later that day requested copies of all images that I had. None of my images were helpful in apprehending the suspect, however, there was enough evidence to be had to enable the police to make an arrest on June 5, 2012.

As with the web page covering other Camden Fire Department events, if you can identify anyone that I've missed, please e-mail me. (I'm terrible at at names and faces).

Phil Cohen
July 27, 2012

Philadelphia Inquirer - June 2, 2012

One dead in crash on Ben Franklin Bridge

By Vernon Clark
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

A 60-year-old man died and five people were hospitalized Saturday evening
after a disabled van on the Ben Franklin Bridge was struck from behind by a
car driven by a 19-year-old man who was intoxicated, bridge police said.

Tim Ireland, a spokesman for the Delaware River Port Authority, said the
crash occurred about 6:30 p.m. when the van, with six people inside, was hit
by a late-model Mazda. Ireland said the van was on the New Jersey side of
the bridge, facing west in the second lane from the right when the Mazda
smashed into it. Both vehicles had Pennsylvania license plates.

The deceased, who had been in the rear seat of the van, suffered a heart
attack and died at the scene, Ireland said. Four people in the van were taken
to Cooper University Hospital in Camden and one was taken to Thomas
Jefferson University Hospital, he said.

In the Mazda was the driver, who police said was from Delaware County,
and a passenger. Ireland said the driver had a blood-alcohol level of .08.

He was in police custody Saturday evening and the passenger was being
questioned by police. Ireland said the driver was expected to be charged
with driving under the influence, and might also be charged with vehicular
homicide, among other offenses. The incident remained under investigation.

Philadelphia Inquirer - June 5, 2012

Burlington County man arraigned in fatal Camden hit-and-run

By Claudia Vargas
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

Ronald Winzinger was charged with leaving the scene of a fatal crash.

A Burlington County man who police say fled Saturday after his SUV slammed into a vehicle carrying concert-bound country music fans, killing one, was arraigned in Superior Court in Camden Wednesday and held on $150,000 bail.

Ronald Winzinger, 35, of Hainesport, was charged with leaving the scene of a fatal accident and hindering prosecution. Authorities say they believe he was behind the wheel of a Nissan Xterra near Exit 4 on I-676 in Camden around 11:40 a.m. when it struck a Mazda M3S and a Ford E150 van. Michelle MacInnes, 29, of Jackson Township, Ocean County, a passenger in the Mazda, died of her injuries shortly afterward at Cooper University Hospital.

Investigators say Winzinger left the scene of the accident after assessing its
severity. He later bought a tarpaulin and used it to hide his vehicle in Burlington County, officials said.

About seven hours later, a 19-year-old Delaware County man, who authorities say was driving under the influence after taking part in a tailgate party at the same show at Camden’s Susquehana Bank Center, rear-ended a stalled van on the westbound approach to the Benjamin Franklin Bridge, injuring four people. A man in the backseat died of a heart attack just before the crash.

The fatal accident was the most severe incident involving a ticketholder for the WXTU-FM 28th Anniversary Concert, a full-day affair at the Camden waterfront that attracted about 25,000 fans to a lineup headlined by Miranda Lambert.

City police arrested 191 people and emergency medical technicians treated 193 for injuries and illnesses, according to Camden authorities. Ten people were transported to area hospitals.

WXTU is one of our more challenging concerts. The number of arrests and EMT visits is higher in comparison to other events" at the venue, Camden Police Chief Scott Thomson wrote in an e-mail. The department had a "total recall" on Saturday, meaning every available officer was on duty.

Last year, an officer was stabbed in the chest as he directed traffic leaving the WXTU show. The perpetrators were not concertgoers.

"The fact that his backup was on scene and transported him to the Cooper Trauma Center in less than 90 seconds made the difference," according to Thomson, who said that about 200 officers were on the street Saturday.

They cited concertgoers for fighting, public drunkenness, and public urination, among other violations. The parking lots at the Susquehanna Center opened at 7 a.m., and the last cars left by midnight, Thomson said.

Live Nation, which handled the operations of the event, did not respond to request for comment.

Natalie Conner, general manager of the Philadelphia Beasley Broadcast Group, which owns WXTU, said incidents happen at all large concert and sporting events. "I’m not going to say anything derogatory about our fans," Conner said Tuesday.

The radio station has staged its annual festival at the Camden center for years.

"We feel very fortunate that we have such a nice facility to host our concerts
… and hopefully it boosts [the] … economy in the city," Conner said. In an
agreement that dates to 1994, the city receives a portion of the ticket revenue in lieu of property-tax payments from the center.

According to officials, the Mazda and the Ford were stopped in traffic in the right lane on I-676 when they were struck by Winzinger’s Nissan. Winzinger was traveling north at an unsafe speed in the center lane and made a quick lane change in an attempt to exit the highway, authorities said. He was apparently headed to a tattoo parlor, Assistant Prosecutor Joshua Ottenberg said following Winzinger’s arraignment.

State Police said Winzinger, who has a history of speeding tickets and driving with a suspended license, surrendered to troopers at the Bordentown barracks on Monday evening. He did not have a lawyer or family present at his arraignment.

Winzinger is unrelated to the family that owns the Hainesport-based demolition company Winzinger Inc., company spokeswoman Audrey Winzinger said Tuesday.

Kevin Diamond Jr. of Folsom faces charges of assault by auto, underage drunken driving, and having a suspended license for allegedly slamming his vehicle into the back of a Ford van on the bridge, said Tim Ireland, spokesman for the Delaware River Port Authority.

At the time, none of the other five people in the van realized that Pervis Herder, 68, of Philadelphia’s Fairhill section, was dead in the backseat. He seemed to be sleeping. The Medical Examiner’s Office ruled Herder’s death a heart attack and Diamond will not face a vehicular homicide charge, officials said.

Diamond’s blood-alcohol level was found to be 0.08, the threshold for DUI in New Jersey, Ireland said.