Matthew R. Pope, 45, was pronounced dead this afternoon at St. Luke's University Hospital in Fountain Hill; his vehicle crashed into an SUV in Lower Nazareth Township, authorities say.
A South Whitehall Township man has died from injuries he suffered in a two-vehicle crash this morning at Route 248 and ProLogis Parkway in Lower Nazareth Township, authorities say.
Matthew R. Pope, 45, of the 2000 block of Guth Road, crashed his Saturn into a sport utility vehicle about 9:20 a.m. and died about three hours later at St. Luke's University Hospital in Fountain Hill, according to authorities.
According to Colonial Regional police Chief Roy Seiple, the driver of the Saturn had been involved in two hit-and-run crashes earlier in the morning before striking the SUV.
As police responded to the first crash at Schelden Circle and Brodhead Road in Hanover Township, Northampton County, the Saturn was crashing into two vehicles at Route 191 and Newburg Road in Lower Nazareth Township and then continuing to ProLogis Parkway and Route 248, where it rear-ended the SUV, a Toyota Highlander, Seiple said.
The occupants of the other vehicles were not hurt in the first two wrecks but the third wreck sent Pope and an occupant of the Toyota Highlander to St. Luke's.
Pope was pronounced dead at the hospital at 12:36 p.m., Lehigh County Coroner Scott Grim said in a news release. The cause of Pope’s death is multiple blunt force trauma; his death has been ruled an accident, the release states.
The severity of injuries the other person suffered was unclear.
Seiple emphasized that police were not pursuing the Saturn at the time of the third crash.
Police are trying to piece together how the Saturn got from Hanover Township to the two Lower Nazareth crash sites, Seiple said.
"I don't want to ever see this happen again," Seiple said, declining to provide more information.
Photo chief Sue Beyer and Assistant Managing Editor Tony Rhodin contributed to this report.