Woman charged in fatal hit-and-run

Authorities say 21-year-old Chester County woman struck and killed pedestrian in Norristown

An arrest has been made in the fatal hit-and-run that took the life of 64-year-old Clinton Rucker as he was walking through the intersection of Markley and West Main streets late last month.

Alexa Lynn Laffkas, 21, of Uwchlan Township, Chester County, has been charged with leaving the scene of an accident involving injury or death and related offenses in connection with the incident that occurred just after 4 a.m. on Sunday, May 27.

Rucker died at the scene after being thrown or carried approximately 95 feet from the point of impact, investigators said. Laffkas reportedly did not stop to render aid or call police and continued on to a friend’s house in Bridgeport.

“The law requires that a driver stop for any car crash. Leaving the scene of an accident when someone has been struck and dies is a seconddegree felony and carries significant state prison time,” Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele said in a press release announcing Laffkas’ arrest.

“If this defendant had stopped, attempted to help the victim and called police, she likely would not be facing this severe of a charge or state prison time. Drivers need to do the right and responsible thing.”

According to authorities, Laffkas was traveling 40 mph in a 25 mph zone when the traffic

light turned yellow as she entered the intersection where she struck Rucker as he stepped into the left through-lane leading to the Dannehower Bridge. The speed limit increases to 45 mph on the bridge.

A witness — who was driving on Markley Street, waiting to make a left onto West Main Street at the time of the incident — told police he didn’t see the crash, but heard the impact and saw the victim go airborne.

The witness also told investigators he saw the striking vehicle, which he described as a silver SUV, flee the scene and continue across the bridge toward Upper Merion.

Montgomery County Detectives who specialize in crash reconstruction were dispatched to the scene and recovered forensic evidence, including part of a bumper and plastic from the wheel well of the Jeep Cherokee Laffkas was allegedly driving.

The crash was also captured on video from the BP gas station at the northeast corner of West Main and Markley streets. The criminal complaint says the video shows the Jeep’s brakes being applied right after the collision, but the vehicle does not come to a complete stop.

A few hours after the crash, Norristown police were contacted by an officer from the Uwchlan Township Police Department who said he had been in contact with a woman, identified as Laffkas, who was distraught because she thought she may have hit someone in the area of Main and Markley streets and had left her damaged vehicle behind in Bridgeport.

Investigators located the Jeep at Laffkas’ friend’s house and found that the damage to the vehicle was consistent with the debris detectives recovered from the scene, according to court documents.

A post-crash vehicle inspection determined that there were no mechanical problems with the vehicle, authorities said.

Detectives interviewed two passengers who were in the vehicle with Laffkas at the time of the crash and through the course of the evening.

Both said they had been to several bars starting in Bridgeport and then moving on to Conshohocken before heading to an after-party in East Norriton.

Neither could say how much Laffkas had to drink, and both said they heard a thump near the intersection of Main and Markley as they were headed back to Bridgeport, but didn’t see anything and assumed she hit a median or a deer.

In addition to leaving the scene, Laffkas is charged with failure to provide information or render aid following an accident involving injury or death, failure to notify police of an accident, and driving at an unsafe speed.

She was arraigned before District Judge Margaret Hunsicker, who declined to set bail and released Laffkas on her own recognizance.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled before District Judge Gregory Scott at 11 a.m. on Thursday, June 28.

Alexa Laffkas