Rt. 1 Hit-And-Run Crash: 3 Vehicles In Police Custody

MIDDLETOWN, PA — Three vehicles identified as being at the site of a deadly hit-and-run crash on Rt. 1 in Bucks County were in police custody late Tuesday.

Middletown Township Police Chief Joseph Bartorilla said investigators were examining the vehicles — a Ford F-550 flatbed tow truck, a Dodge Caravan minivan and a VW Passat — to see if they were involved in the crash early Monday that killed 29-year-old Alexandra Ridgway.

Bartorilla said the drivers and owners of the three vehicles were cooperating with police.

"At this time there is no physical evidence linking any of these vehicles or drivers as the initial striking vehicle of the pedestrian," he said Tuesday evening.

Police say Ridgway, who was walking on or alongside Rt. 1 near Neshaminy High School shortly before 3:30 a.m. on Monday, was hit by multiple vehicles. None of the drivers stopped, according to police.

Bartorilla said several other vehicles have been examined by police in Middletown, Philadelphia, Bensalem and Falls and cleared of any involvement in the crash. Their drivers remain potential witnesses, he said.

Police now say they believe the first vehicle to strike Ridgway was a large one, most likely a large truck or tractor-trailer.

Bartorilla also tapped the brakes on media reports that a woman's arm found later Monday morning alongside a road in Philadelphia is related to the crash.

"As of now this human limb has not been positively identified and it remains unknown if it is involved in the pedestrian crash from Rt. 1," he said. "Middletown Township Police are working closely with the Philadelphia Police Department and the Philadelphia Medical Examiner’s Office to determine the identity of this person."

Anyone with information in the case is asked to contact Officer Timothy King or Sgt. Michael Lubold of the Middletown Township Police Department at 215-750-3800.

Ridgway's family members have said they don't know why she would have been walking along the highway so early in the morning. Her brother, who launched a fundraising campaign to help pay her funeral expenses, said she struggled with mental health issues.

The fundraiser, on crowdfunding site GoFundMe, had raised $11,435 as of Wednesday morning.