Police claim driver who killed 2 Berks Co. fire chiefs in crash had ‘crack pipe’

A man who has been arrested and charged in the crash that killed two chiefs of the Walnuttown Fire Company, was found with a “crack pipe” in his car and told police he fell asleep and was awoken by the deadly crash, court documents claim.

According to court documents, Alexander Sepvulveda Rivera, 26, of New York City, told police he had fallen asleep at the wheel before striking and killing Fire Chief Jeffory L. Buck and Assistant Fire Chief Robert R. Shick, Jr., of the Walnuttown Fire Company in a crash that happened along Kutztown Road in Richmond Township on Saturday.

In court documents obtained by NBC10, officials said that, after officers arrived at the scene of the deadly crash on Saturday, a witness told police that a Toyota Camry, driven by Sepvulveda Rivera, was spotted “weaving back and forth on the roadway” before it struck an UTV carrying Buck and Shick, who were driving along the southbound shoulder of the roadway.

Following the crash, court documents claim Sepvulveda Rivera and a woman who was a passenger in the vehicle, were confronted by police as they walked along Krouse Road after exiting the Toyota and walking away from the scene of the crash.

The documents claim, in speaking to police, Sepvulveda Rivera allegedly admitted he fell asleep behind the wheel while driving “and the crash woke him up.”

Also, in a search of the vehicle, court documents claim, police recovered suspected marijuana and, what police called a “crack pipe.”

He also told police, court documents claim, that he had smoked marijuana that morning and admitted that the “crack pipe” found in the vehicle was his.

At the scene, Sepvulveda Rivera was found to not have a driver’s license and he had a warrant out for his arrest.

He was apprehended at the scene and taken to a nearby hospital for a blood test on suspicion of driving under the influence at the time the crash occurred, court documents say.

He has since been charged with homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence, accidents involving death or injury while not licensed, reckless driving, involuntary manslaughter, careless driving – unintentional death and other related offenses

Police have not said if the passenger in Sepvulveda Rivera’s vehicle will face any charges.

Also, in an update on Monday afternoon, the Lehigh County Coroner’s Office announced that an autopsy found that both Buck and Shick died of blunt force injuries caused in the crash.

Officials have announced that there will be an update on the investigation into the crash provided on Tuesday morning.