There were two traffic fatalities on New Year’s Day in our area.
— The first occurred around 2:30am in Washington Township, Snyder County, not far from Middleburg. State police say 27-year-old Brock Kerstetter of Millerstown (Perry County) died in a wreck. His car went off Route 104 on a curve near Shade Mountain Road.
Troopers say the vehicle hit an embankment and then a pole. They say he was not wearing a seatbelt and was thrown from the vehicle. Numerous volunteer and career first responders were at the scene of that crash. The crash was a case of DUI, according to troopers.
— An hour later on I-80 in Montour County, a passenger died in the crash of an Uber vehicle. State police say that was 3:30am in Liberty Township, near mile marker 217. 23-year-old Yainyles Gomez of Williamsport was riding to the Wilkes-Barre area when the SUV went off the road, hit an embankment and then a tree.
The driver, Anthony Machi of Hughesville, had what troopers called minor injuries. At the scene were the Montour County Coroner, state police initial responders and then an investigative unit, volunteers from Liberty and Valley Township Fire Departments and Bloomsburg Ambulance personnel. No one in that vehicle was wearing a seatbelt, according to state police.
