Northern Lancaster County Regional Police and the Lancaster County District Attorney’s Office have filed and approved charges regarding a deadly crash at the intersection of Main Street and Graystone Road in East Petersburg Township in May of 2021.

Cesar Torres, 38 of Florida, has been charged with two counts each of homicide by vehicle, a third-degree felony, and involuntary manslaughter, a first-degree misdemeanor. Torres also faces summary offenses of failure to stop at a red signal and driving at a safe speed. At approximately 9:06 p.m. on May 22, 2021, NLCRPD officers responded to a vehicle collision involving fire between a pickup truck and a truck tractor-trailer.

The pickup truck had overturned, resting on its roof, and was engulfed by fire. The tractor-trailer, operated by Torres, was also engulfed in fire; the defendant had no injuries. The two occupants in the pickup truck, siblings Brandie and Leonard Kasper, were trapped inside and pronounced dead at the scene. The Lancaster County Coroner’s Office performed an autopsy and concluded the victims died as a direct result of smoke inhalation and thermal burns and multiple traumatic injuries they received as a result of the collision.

A reconstruction of the collision revealed the following:

-The tractor-trailer was traveling south on Main Street when it went through a steady red traffic light and struck the passenger side of the pickup truck, which was traveling west on Graystone Road through a green traffic light.

-The road conditions were dry and clear of any foreign debris at the time of collision. -The roadway at the area of impact had no sign of defects.

-The posted speed limit for the area is 25 miles per hour. -The tractor-trailer was traveling between 31-33 miles per hour when it went through the red signal.

-The pickup truck was traveling approximately 7.5 miles per hour.

-A mechanical inspection of the tractor-trailer could not determine any pre-collision mechanical defects or failures due to the fire damage. No pre-existing defects were reported by the defendant. Four witnesses also observed the collision.

Through the investigation, it was concluded that Torres was the sole contributor to the cause of the collision, which resulted in two fatalities, and failed to stop for a clearly visible red traffic signal even though he had sufficient time and distance to see the light and come to a controlled stop prior to the intersection. Torres is presumed innocent until proven guilty. NLCRPD, Pennsylvania State Police, and Lancaster County Detectives aided in the collision reconstruction. NLCRPD Officer Alex Good filed charges.