Victims, Man Who Fled Police Identified In Fatal Bucks Co. Crash

Updated: 1:36 p.m. Tuesday

LOWER BUCKS COUNTY, PA —The Bucks County Coroner's Office has revealed the names of the two victims of a fatal crash in Bristol Township in which a man who eluded police has also been identified.

The Bucks County Coroner's Office told Patch Tuesday that Richard, 37, and Rebecca Whiddon, 33, of Brooklyn, CT., were killed on Veterans Highway at Ford Road in Bristol in the crash Saturday afternoon.

Two other people were injured and taken to Jefferson-Torresdale Hospital for treatment.

The Coroner's Office said the couple was visiting from Connecticut.

"Our sincere condolences go out to the family," the Coroner's Office said.

The driver of the vehicle who struck them and then fled on foot has been identified as John Wadlinger., 31, of Croydon, the Bucks County District Attorney's Office said.

He was transported to Bucks County Correctional Facility and is being held without bail on a state parole violation.

The investigation is ongoing. All applicable charges against him will be filed at the appropriate time, authorities said.

Bristol Township Police said that a man driving a black Ford Explorer was traveling eastbound on Ford Road and struck a 2019 red Nissan Sentra that was turning left from westbound Ford Road onto southbound Veterans Highway.

After the crash, he fled the scene on foot, stole a dump truck, and then crashed that truck on Veterans Highway near the intersection of Old Rodgers Road in Bristol by overturning while failing to negotiate a turn, police said.

He has not been charged with the fatalities, authorities said.

Authorities said Wadlinger was taken into custody for a prior conviction.

The Bucks County District Attorney's Office is now involved in the case.