The Philly DA’s Office dropped all charges against the truck driver who fatally struck a bicyclist in 2017

Philadelphia prosecutors have dropped all charges against the man who was driving a trash truck that struck and killed a bicyclist in Center City in 2017, ending a criminal case that attracted sustained attention from safe streets advocates.

Jorge Fretts, 31, had been charged with homicide by vehicle, involuntary manslaughter, and reckless endangerment for turning the truck into pastry chef Emily Fredricks, 24, at the intersection of 11th and Spruce Streets during morning rush hour.

But a city judge in 2019 said there was not enough evidence to support the homicide charge and tossed it out before trial. The Superior Court affirmed that decision last fall. And after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court said it would not consider an appeal on the matter, the District Attorney’s Office withdrew the case entirely on Wednesday, saying prosecutors had “exhausted all legal avenues in its pursuit of justice.”

Fretts’ attorney, David Bahuriak, said the decision was overdue.

In an interview Thursday, Bahuriak said that Fretts never should have been charged in the first place — that it was clear the death was a tragic accident and not a crime. Bahuriak said he believed DA Larry Krasner’s administration had been improperly swayed by safe streets advocates who were vocal in demanding action after Fredricks’ death. And he said prosecutors had “mischaracterized the facts, they mischaracterized the law, and they did it to score political points.”

“The objective evidence in this case showed that Mr. Fretts didn’t commit a crime, and anyone who would’ve taken the time to read that file either knew that or should’ve known that,” Bahuriak said. “You don’t just make a sacrificial lamb out of an innocent person.”

Fredricks’ parents, Rich and Laura, said Thursday that they were “obviously very disappointed” by the decision, even though they’d come to expect it.

“With what happened [in court], it’s like Emily didn’t exist,” Laura Fredricks said of her daughter, who was heading to her job at Le Chéri near Rittenhouse Square when she died.

Rich Fredricks called the courts’ handling of the case “such a slap in the face.”

“The scales of justice would be so different if it was [a judge’s] child,” he said.

Fredricks was struck Nov. 28, 2017. Fretts was driving a garbage truck westbound on Spruce Street, and as he turned right onto 11th Street, he struck Fredricks, who was riding her bike in the bicycle lane on the right-hand side of Fretts’ truck.

Fretts stayed at the scene, and for months afterward he was not charged.

In September 2018, the Fredricks family settled a lawsuit with Gold Metal Environment, the owners of the garbage truck, for $6 million.

Then, in February 2019, Krasner’s office moved to charge Fretts, saying video from inside the truck’s cab showed him looking at paperwork while driving and wearing a smartphone ear bud.

At a preliminary hearing later that year, prosecutors also said Fretts hadn’t used a turn signal or obeyed a sign to yield to bicyclists, though they acknowledged he was not speeding or driving erratically. Video played at the hearing showed Fretts and a passenger yelling “Whoa, whoa, whoa!” a split second before impact.

Fretts was held for trial on all charges. But Common Pleas Court Judge Lillian Ransom later threw out the homicide charge, finding that there was no evidence of criminal recklessness on Fretts’ part.

Last fall, the Superior Court upheld that decision, saying in an opinion: “[T]here was no evidence that Fretts knew that there was a bicyclist beside the truck when he made the right turn, no evidence that he failed to look before he made the turn, and no evidence that distracted driving caused the accident.”

“The accident and death of the bicyclist that occurred in this case were unquestionably tragic,” the court wrote. “But not every tragedy is a crime, let alone a felony.”

Fredricks’ parents disagree with that assessment. “We really don’t understand how anyone who could’ve viewed the videos could have determined that [Fretts] was not at fault,” Laura Fredricks said.

The couple, of East Brunswick, N.J., said they’ve told their two sons — Emily’s brothers, now ages 30 and 27 — that they will continue to honor her memory through a number of safe streets initiatives, including the formation of a political action committee and a charitable foundation.

Bahuriak, meanwhile, said Fretts was trying to support his family and move forward from the criminal case.

“This accident was unavoidable, it was unfortunate, and he feels terrible about what happened,” Bahuriak said. “There was no reason to drag him through the criminal system. It was wrong.”