Man Charged In Fatal Christmas Eve Hit-&-Run

A Bensalem Township man has been charged with a fatal Christmas Eve hit-and-run crash that took the life of a Bristol Township grandfather.

On Monday, Kevin Michael Baker Jr., 20, turned himself into police on charges of accidents involving death or personal injury, tampering with physical evidence, and failure to stop and give information or render aid.

The charges came after a recommendation from an investigative grand jury that was seated at the start of the year.

On Christmas Eve 2021 just before 5:10 p.m., Dugan and his fiancée were crossing State Road in the area of Fourth Avenue in Bristol Township’s Croydon section to stop by a neighbor’s Christmas party for a few minutes when he fell and was struck by a pickup truck that didn’t stop, authorities and Dugan’s family have said.

Dugan’s fiancée said he had “two left feet” and medical ailments that caused him to have trouble walking. Immediately after he fell in the street, she went to help him up, but a pickup truck “passed me real fast and hit John,” according to the grand jury presentment.

Dugan was rushed by ambulance and pronounced deceased at Jefferson Torresdale Hospital in Philadelphia.

There was heavy media attention on the fatal hit-and-run and images of the striking pickup truck disseminated across news outlets, including LevittownNow.com, in the week that followed.

Bristol Township police received a tip Baker, who was with his girlfriend, appeared to have cleaned the driver-side bumper of the pickup truck at an address in Falls Township’s Morrisville section. Baker also appeared to be attempting to fix the vehicle’s fog light using duct tape. The tipster also provided video of the activity, police said.

On December 29, Baker and his dad arrived at the Bristol Township police station and turned over the red Chevrolet Silverado. They said they were surrendering the vehicle after seeing press coverage of the fatal crash, the grand jury said.

“Officer Margerum performed an inspection on Kevin Baker Jr.’s red Chevy Silverado. During the inspection, Officer Margerum observed damage to the truck that was consistent with the crash that caused John Dugan’s death. Officer Margerum noted that the vehicle was otherwise ‘super clean.’ Officer Margerum brought the bottom shroud of the bumper from Baker Jr.’s truck to Grand Jury and presented the damage to that vehicle part that related to this crash, including a rip repair in the area of the driver’s side fog light,” the grand jury wrote.

Police said they spotted a leafy green substance that “looked to be consistent with marijuana” in the pickup.

Bristol Township Police Officer Kenneth Margerum, a crash reconstruction officer and lead investigator, said Baker likely would not have been criminally responsible for Dugan’s death if he had not fled the scene.

The investigation found speeding was not a factor and Baker would likely have had trouble seeing Dugan once he fell, the grand jury said.

Baker’s father pleaded his Fifth Amendment right when asked by the grand jury if he discussed the crash with his son prior to making the plan to go over to the police station, according to the court filing.

Baker’s girlfriend testified she was feeling ill and sleeping when she was a passenger in her boyfriend’s pickup on Christmas Eve.

“If something happened I wouldn’t know, I was asleep,” she reportedly testified.

The girlfriend claims that the “first time she heard that Kevin’s truck may have been involved in a fatal hit and run was the day the truck was turned into police. She stated that she did not know any details, because it was a family matter and did not ask about it when they were all huddled up talking,” the grand jury wrote.

The girlfriend’s testimony, according to the grand jury, was contradicted when she later stated she didn’t know about the fatal crash until a few days into 2022.

Baker and his girlfriend were heading toward Bensalem Township after leaving a family event in Croydon the evening of the crash.

Dugan had three kids and six grandchildren. He was a U.S. Army veteran and volunteered at the Veterans of Foreign Wars post.

“I’m grateful to the members of the Bucks County Grand Jury for their role in solving this mystery,” District Attorney Matt Weintraub said in a statement after the arrest. “We will take their recommendation to heart by commencing prosecution of Mr. Baker. Hopefully, their work will enable us to get justice for John Dugan and his loved ones who grieve his passing.”

Baker was preliminarily arraigned before District Judge Terry Hughes Monday afternoon and bail was set at 10 percent of $150,000. Court records show Baker posted the bail and was released.

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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