Police charge two drivers in pedestrian crashes, await toxicology results of driver in bicyclist’s death

Philadelphia police have charged two drivers — and are awaiting the toxicology results for a third — who they say were involved in three crashes this week that left a bicyclist and one pedestrian dead and critically injured another.

The crashes took place within just three hours on Wednesday, after three people, including Barbara Friedes, a young doctor biking home, were struck by drivers in separate sections of the city, igniting a wave of concern among safe streets advocates.

The first incident, a hit-and-run, occurred in East Germantown around 4:30 p.m. on the 5800 block of Chew Avenue. As a 26-year-old woman crossed the street, 40-year-old Sekia Spencer struck the woman with her car, then fled the scene, said Deputy Police Commissioner Frank Vanore.

The woman flew onto the windshield of Spencer’s car before falling into the street, Vanore said. She remains in critical condition at Einstein Medical Center.

Responding officers located Spencer’s car not far from the scene, parked on the 5600 block of Sprague Street, with severe front-end damage and a cracked windshield, Vanore said.

Spencer was taken into custody and has been charged with aggravated assault while driving under the influence, causing an accident involving death or injury, causing an accident involving injury without a driver’s license, being in possession of a controlled substance, and related crimes. She remains in custody on $175,000 bail. Her attorney at the Defender Association declined to comment.

Then, at 7 p.m., Friedes, a 30-year-old medical resident at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, was biking near Rittenhouse Square when she was struck from behind by a speeding car on the 1800 block of Spruce Street.

Video from the scene appears to show the driver, a 68-year-old man operating a blue Volkswagen, attempt to steer around other cars in the street while driving at a high rate of speed, swerving into the bike lane and running over the plastic lane dividers before crashing into Friedes and then hitting several parked cars.

She flew more than 20 feet into the air from the impact, police said. She was wearing a helmet and was riding in the bike lane, but still, police said, she suffered severe head injuries and died at the hospital shortly upon arrival.

Vanore said the driver remains hospitalized from injuries related to the crash. Investigators are awaiting the expedited results of multiple tests to determine whether he was intoxicated at the time of the crash, Vanore said. Those results should be back soon, he said.

He declined to identify the driver, who has not been charged with any crimes.

The District Attorney’s Office said the crash remains under investigation.

Just minutes after Friedes was struck, a man was killed in Kensington under similar circumstances.

As 38-year-old Christopher Cabrera stood on the corner of Frankford and East Allegheny Avenues, waiting to cross the street, a man in a black Toyota drove through the intersection at a high rate of speed, Vanore said.

The driver, 41-year-old Christopher Sorensen, veered onto the curb and struck Cabrera head on before crashing into a parked car, Vanore said. Bystanders attempted to help Cabrera but his injuries were severe, Vanore said. He died at the scene.

The video of the crash is something Vanore said he “will never be able to unsee.”

He said investigators believe Sorensen was under the influence of drugs at the time, and that police found heroin in his possession. Sorensen remains hospitalized, and has been charged with narcotics offenses in the crash. Police expect to charge him in Cabrera’s death once toxicology results are returned and he is released from the hospital, Vanore said.

Luis Cabrera said his son grew up in the Lawndale section of Philadelphia, attended Archbishop Ryan High School, and graduated from St. William Catholic School. He is the second-oldest of four children, and has a sister in the U.S. Army, his father said.

His son, he said, loved to read and follow politics. He assumed the role of oldest sibling after his brother died about four years ago, after he fell and suffered a head injury while he was sick, Luis Cabrera said.

“He was a good man. He always took care of everyone first,” he said.

After his brother’s death, and mother’s sudden passing just a few months later, Cabrera fell on hard times, Luis Cabrera said. He moved in with his father, working odd jobs like mowing lawns, house painting, and reselling used goods, and had recently moved into his own place in Harrowgate with his girlfriend, Luis Cabrera said.

His death has devastated his family. A funeral service has been planned for next week at Holy Innocents Parish in Juniata Park.

Meanwhile, records show, the driver, Sorensen, was wanted on a bench warrant in a drug possession case in Bucks County at the time of the crash. Court records show that he has a lengthy history of arrests and has spent time in jail, largely for drug-related crimes.

He was most recently taken into custody in April but was released on bail, records show. A warrant was issued for his arrest on July 8 after he did not show up for court.