DA’s Office to announce developments on crash that killed Barbara Friedes on Thursday
District Attorney Larry Krasner said police received the toxicology report of the driver who killed Barbara Friedes as she biked through Rittenhouse last week.
Philadelphia police have completed the investigation into the crash that killed a 30-year-old bicyclist last week, and although officials declined to say whether the driver will face criminal charges, the District Attorney’s Office said it will make an announcement about the case on Thursday.
District Attorney Larry Krasner on Wednesday said that investigators had officially received the toxicology report of the 68-year-old man who fatally struck Barbara Friedes as she rode her bike near Rittenhouse Square last week. Krasner declined to share the results of the report or say whether his office would charge the driver, but said new information on the case would be shared soon.
“We’ll have a lot more to say tomorrow,” Krasner said. “This is a very active investigation.”
Deputy Police Commissioner Frank Vanore on Wednesday said that investigators sent their findings to prosecutors on Tuesday, though he declined to say whether police recommended any charges.
The driver, whom police have not identified because he has not been charged with any crimes, fatally struck Friedes, a medical resident at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, around 7 p.m. last Wednesday as she biked west in the bike lane on the 1800 block of Spruce Street.
Video from the scene appeared to show the driver, operating a blue Volkswagen, attempt to steer around other cars in the street before he swerved into the bike lane, ran over the plastic lane dividers of the bike lane, then crashed into Friedes and several parked cars at a high rate of speed.
The impact from the crash launched Friedes more than 20 feet into the air, police said. Despite wearing a helmet, she suffered severe head injuries and died at the hospital a short time later, police said.
The driver was also hospitalized for multiple days. As of Monday, he had been released, police said.
Friedes’ death — one of several fatal pedestrian-car crashes last week — prompted an outcry from safe street advocates, who held a vigil for crash victims in Center City on Sunday. Many advocates have been calling for charges against the driver who killed Friedes and questioned why it had taken more than a week for police to complete a toxicology report for the driver.
Krasner said the sampling and testing process can take weeks, and sometimes even months. Vanore last week said the department had put a rush order on the results.
“It is very normal for the chemical testing that has to be done on a blood sample or a urine sample to take some time,” Krasner said.
Additional information is expected Thursday.
Staff writer Rodrigo Torrejón contributed to this article.