A Trenton woman has been charged in a September crash that killed a bicyclist on Route 1.
Tiffany N. Hostick, 38, was arraigned recently on charges of accidents involving death, accidents involving death while not licensed, failure to notify police of a crash, and driving while operating privileges suspended or revoked. She was arraigned by District Judge Jan Vislosky and released on $75,000 unsecured bail.
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On Thursday, September 17 at 1:12 a.m., Falls Township police were dispatched to northbound Route 1 just south of the Stoney Hill Road off-ramp for a report of a struck pedestrian. They arrived and found Christopher Suggs laying on the highway. Emergency aid was rendered, but he was pronounced dead at the scene, according to an affidavit of probable cause.
One of the Falls Township officers began searching for a possible striking vehicle. A blue BMW sedan with New Jersey plates was found a short distance away on Route 1. The vehicle had heavy front end damage, deployed airbags, a smashed windshield, and there was blood on the vehicle, police said.
The vehicle was unoccupied and the keys were in the ignition, but the car was not on, police said.
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Officers and a K-9 unit searched the area but did not locate the driver.
The vehicle was registered to a Trenton woman. Falls Township officers went to the owners address and there was no one home, police said.
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The BMW was towed back to the police station and debris found at the scene matched the vehicle, police said.
Inside the vehicle, documents indicated that Hostick had been in possession of the crashed BMW, police said.
Hours after the crash, an attorney called police and advised that he was representing Hostick. She wished to give police a statement about the crash, authorities said.
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At 10 a.m., Hostick and her attorney met with police.
Hostick said she was driving her sister’s BMW on Route 1 after meeting her husband at a hotel in Falls Township when she struck what she thought was a deer. She explained that what she thought was the deer jumped in front of her, police said.
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The BMW became disabled along the highway. Hostick was nervous and distraught because her New Jersey’s driver’s license was suspended, so she started walking away but an unknown driver picked her up and took her home, Hostick told police.
In November, a detective spoke with Hostick’s husband and he said was at the hotel with his wife. He said that a few minutes after she left the hotel she called and said she struck a deer, police reported.
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Hostick’s husband noted that he headed to pick his wife up and passed the crash scene, observing a bicycle on the highway, police said.
The man admitted to picking his wife up and driving her to their home in New Jersey, police said.
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The couple contacted an attorney after seeing news reports online of the fatal crash on Route 1, police said.
A crash reconstruction by the Bucks County Crash Investigation Team showed that Hostick should have been able to tell that she hit something other than a deer. Investigators also determined Hostick’s driving was “not the direct and substantial cause of the crash,” police said.
Police did not note why Suggs was riding a bicycle on the busy highway.
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Editor’s Note: All individuals arrested or charged with a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty. The story was compiled using information from police and public court documents.
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