Havertown man charged with Bryn Mawr hit-run

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.

Two hours after the accident, the truck was found parked by a Bryn Mawr College building on Wyndon Avenue.

Initially, Groch told police his vehicle had been stolen from his Havertown home. But an investigation showed no tampering with the truck, and Groch's cellphone records indicated he was near Lancaster and Bryn Mawr Avenues moments after the three victims were hit.

A preliminary hearing has been scheduled in District Court for next Thursday. - Carolyn Davis