Driver in fatal car crash tested positive for heroin, cocaine
The driver charged in the Nov. 13 crash on Bustleton Avenue that killed two men tested positive for numerous drugs -- including heroin, morphine and cocaine -- when his blood was drawn two hours after the crash, a Philadelphia prosecutor said this morning.
The driver charged in the Nov. 13 crash on Bustleton Avenue that killed two men tested positive for numerous drugs -- including heroin, morphine and cocaine -- when his blood was drawn two hours after the crash, a Philadelphia prosecutor said this morning.
Robert Brenzenger, 33, also tested positive for marijuana, and the prescription drugs alprazolam, and zolpidem, Assistant District Attorney John Doyle said this morning during a preliminary hearing in Philadelphia Municipal Court, where Judge Patrick Dugan ordered that Brenzenger continue to be held pending trial.
Doyle didn't say when Brenzenger may have taken the drugs. But he said the results indicate Brenzenger "was impaired from controlled substances at the time of the crash and incapable of driving his vehicle in a safe manner" when he smashed his GMC Yukon into a Honda Accord driven by Liang Pan at about 12:15 a.m. Nov. 13 at the intersection of Bustleton Avenue and St. Vincent Street.
Pan, 35, and his passenger, Zhuoru Chan, 58, both restaurant workers on their way home, died at the scene.
A witness testified this morning that Brenzenger, who was charged with homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence, appeared to be traveling between 50 and 60 miles per hour before he ran a red light on St. Vincent and struck the Honda.
"I was thinking about it, is this guy going to stop or not?" said the witness, Mohamed Elshenawy, who was on the street at the time of the crash.
After the crash, he said, Brenzenger climbed out of the passenger side of the Yukon and stood in the street, looking at the scene.
Brenzenger's next court date is Dec. 19.
