Five dead in unrelated
accidents in the Northeast

 Two people were killed last week on Roosevelt Boulevard when their vehicle crossed the median and struck another car.
Police identified the driver as Randall Pearson, 42, of the 6300 block of Torresdale Ave. in Tacony. His female passenger remained unidentified as the Times went to press.
The accident occurred at 7:15 p.m. on Friday.
According to the police department’s accident investigation division, Pearson was driving his 1993 Pontiac Grand Prix north on Roosevelt Boulevard in the inner lanes near Woodward Street when he lost control.
The Grand Prix crossed the median into the southbound lanes and was struck by two other vehicles. Pearson and his passenger, who were not wearing seat belts, were both ejected from their car and pronounced dead at the scene.
Three people in the two other vehicles suffered minor injuries, police said.

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A motorist suspected in the hit-and-run death of a 67-year-old Lawndale man on Roosevelt Boulevard early Friday was arrested by Philadelphia police later that day.
Luis Aristizabal, 59, of the 6300 block of Ditman St., allegedly fled the scene of an early morning accident that claimed the life of Joseph Courtney, of the 800 block of Levick St.
He returned home later Friday to find police outside his house.
Courtney was walking westbound across the Boulevard in a crosswalk at Oxford Avenue when a northbound van driven by Aristizabal struck him, police said.
The impact reportedly tossed Courtney dozens of feet up the road.
Aristizabal pulled off into the parking lot of a nearby gas station, police said, citing witness accounts, but then drove off, leaving his victim in the street.
According to authorities, Aristizabal does not have a valid driver’s license.
Police did not disclose if they believe the driver was speeding or disobeyed any traffic signals.
Courtney was taken to Frankford Hospital-Torresdale and pronounced dead a short time later.
Aristizabal has been charged with homicide by vehicle, leaving the scene of an accident, aggravated assault and leaving an accident scene by an unlicensed driver.

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A 22-year-old passenger died last week when the car in which he was riding crashed into a telephone pole in Frankford.
The police department’s accident investigation division identified the victim as Matthew Stepalovitch, of the 4200 block of Orchard St. in Frankford.
The accident took place on Sunday at 2:26 a.m. Stepalovitch was a front-seat passenger in a 2005 Hyundai Elantra driven by Bryan Biederman, 34, of the 2800 block of Hedley St. in Bridesburg.
The Elantra was traveling on Margaret Street, between Ditman and Tackawanna streets, when the driver lost control and the vehicle hit the utility pole.
Stepalovitch was pronounced dead at the scene. Biederman and a female passenger sitting in the back seat were taken to Hahnemann University Hospital with serious injuries.

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A mailman at the Fox Chase Post Office died last week when the truck he was driving crashed into a tree on Oxford Avenue in Lawndale.
The accident happened at about 3 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 11.
Matthew Zebin, 50, of the 1400 block of Hellerman St. in Oxford Circle, lost control of his postal vehicle and hit a tree at Oxford Avenue and Montour Street.
Zebin was taken to Albert Einstein Medical Center, where he died an hour later.
There is a curve on that stretch of Oxford Avenue and, according to police, the ground was wet with rain at the time of the accident. ••