The bail for an alleged drunk driver that crashed into a truck and killed his three passengers Dec. 12 on Interstate Highway 95 has been reduced to $500,000 cash or bond, according to the Mercer County P
Lea Kahn, Packet Media Group
LAWRENCE – The bail for an alleged drunk driver that crashed into a truck and killed his three passengers Dec. 12 on Interstate Highway 95 has been reduced to $500,000 cash or bond, according to the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office.
Bail had been set at $1 million for the driver, Luis Delcid-Cardona, 19, of Hamilton, but it was reduced by a Mercer County Superior Court judge Monday, said Casey DeBlasio, a spokeswoman for the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office.
Mr. Delcid-Cardona was charged with three counts of vehicular homicide, plus one count each of leaving the scene of an accident and driving while intoxicated in the 1:09 p.m. accident, and is being held in the Mercer County Correction Center.
The accident occurred on I-95 South, near the Route 1 entrance ramp.
Killed in the accident were Hamilton Township residents Nicole Rodriguez, 20, and Samantha Belliveau, 18, and Jonathan Rivas, 19, of Princeton.
The two women died at the scene and Mr. Rivas died several hours later at Capital Health Regional Medical Center, according to police.
The accident occurred when Mr. Delcid-Cardona lost control of his 2001 Volkswagen as he attempted to negotiate a curve in the road.
Police said the car began to spin clockwise, striking the curb that divides the I-95 travel lanes from the acceleration lane from the Route 1 entrance ramp onto the highway.
The car then struck the curb and went into the acceleration lane, where it slid into the rear of a tractor-trailer truck parked on the shoulder, police said.
Ms. Belliveau, who was sitting in the left rear passenger seat, was ejected from the car and Ms. Rodriguez, who was sitting in the right rear passenger seat, was partially ejected.
Mr. Rivas, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, was extricated from the car by Lawrence Township volunteer firefighters and taken to the hospital, where he later died.
According to police, Mr. Delcid-Cardona fled the scene, but he was apprehended later at a house in Lawrence by police.

