Uber driver, 3 passengers killed in Schuylkill Expressway crash; other driver arrested for DUI
At the scene, police discovered one car had swerved across multiple lanes of traffic and hit a second vehicle.
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Officials have identified the four people who were killed in a crash on the Schuylkill Expressway (I-76) in Philadelphia early Saturday morning.
Troopers said Jan Carlo Santana, 31, of Philadelphia, along with Tucker Schimelfenig, 23, Christian Schimelfenig, 23, and Michael Comerford, 24, all of Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania, died in the wreck.
Santana was an Uber driver, Action News has learned, and the other three victims were his passengers.
Philadelphia police responded to a report of a two-car crash with entrapments and injuries just before 2 a.m. near the City Avenue exit.
At the scene, police discovered one car had swerved across multiple lanes of traffic and hit a second vehicle. The first car spun and overturned before coming to a halt on the right shoulder of an off-ramp.
The second car was struck in the rear and propelled forward into a bridge pillar on I-76 West.
The driver of the first car, identified as 31-year-old Victor Spizzirri, was transported to Temple University Hospital with moderate injuries.
Spizzirri displayed signs of impairment, according to police, and was arrested for homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence and related charges.
People who knew and loved Santana say his whole world revolved around his wife, his kids, and his faith.
"He was a good father. He was a good provider, a good husband, and it's very sad," said family friend Norma Santiago.
All three were from the Scranton-area but went to school and worked in the Delaware Valley.
We spoke with Tucker's employer who says if his brother and his friend were anything like Tucker, they were fine young men.
"He was just a class act. I don't know how else to say it, except for the fact that he was someone I would aspire my son to be like," said David McCloskey, owner of McCloskey Mechanical Contractors.
Santana's family and friends say they simply don't know how to fully explain the situation to his seven- and five-year-old children.
"The little girl said, 'If I pray to Jesus, will he bring back my dad?' And you hear that and you break inside because what can you do?" Santiago said.
