Posted on Oct 25, 2012
Early Sunday morning, September 16, 2012, Hector Gonzalez, 31, of York, Pennsylvania, was killed during a police chase when his car hit a tree and went into Kiwanis Lake.
Just before 3:30AM, Pennsylvania state troopers from the Loganville barracks saw a car driving erratically on Route 30, near Pennsylvania Avenue. Mr. Gonzalez, the driver of the car, committed a number of traffic violations and drove off at a high rate of speed when officers tried to stop him. He then headed south on Pennsylvania Avenue and lost control at the intersection with Parkway Boulevard. His car, a Mercury Cougar, hit a curb at the intersection and then hit a tree before landing in Kiwanis Lake.
When investigators recovered the car, Mr. Gonzalez was not inside. York officials partially drained the lake by lowering the hydraulic gate to the dam in order to retrieve his body. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Tom Landis, York City Superintendent of Recreation, Parks, and Sanitation said it took between 30 and 40 minutes to drain the lake. After the body of Mr. Gonzalez was recovered, a problem with the motor prevented the hydraulic gate from being lifted so that water could return to the lake. While workers tried to find a solution to the problem, fish flopped around in shallow water—struggling to survive. Finally, after a delay of several hours, city workers got the dam gate returned to the upright position.
On Tuesday, September 18, 2012, the York County Coroner’s Office performed an autopsy on Mr. Gonzalez’s body to determine the cause of death. According to the report, the cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head and the manner of death was accidental. A toxicology report is expected in two months.
The car accident attorneys at our firm, Schmidt Kramer Injury Lawyers, have been following this York car accident case closely and would like to extend sincere condolences to Mr. Gonzalez’s family and friends.