Crime & Public Safety
Colin Wahlers, 25, of Perkasie, has been charged in connection with the death of 35-year-old Joseph Kay — a volunteer firefighter with Plumsteadville Fire Company.
A Perkasie man has been charged with homicide by vehicle while DUI in connection with a June 2 crash in Hilltown Township that killed a volunteer firefighter with Plumsteadville Fire Company.
Colin Wahlers, 25, has also been charged with felony counts of homicide by vehicle and fleeing or attempting to elude officer, along with misdemeanor counts of involuntary manslaughter, DUI, and reckless endangerment, court records show. Wahlers is scheduled to be arraigned Friday afternoon at 1 p.m. in front of Magisterial District Judge Regina Armitage.
Hilltown Police said they initially spotted an unregistered Polaris vehicle on Green Street at the intersection with Mill Road at 1 a.m. on June 2 and attempted to initiate a traffic stop, after observing the vehicle veer partially off the road. Police said they had “concerns of possible impairment and the driver’s ability to safely operate the vehicle,” according to a June press release from the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office.
The vehicle then fled down Green Street and attempted to make a right turn on Rickerts Road, but the driver lost control and flipped the vehicle, according to investigators. Both occupants of the vehicle were partially ejected in the rollover crash, with the passenger — identified as 35-year-old Joseph Kay, of Hilltown — being pronounced dead at the scene.
The press release noted that Kay was a volunteer firefighter with Plumsteadville Fire Company.
“We would like to extend our condolences to the family of Mr. Kay, who had been a volunteer firefighter for the Plumsteadville Fire Company,” reads a portion of the release.
The driver, now identified as Wahlers, suffered minor injuries but refused medical treatment, investigators said. An autopsy on June 5 listed Kay’s cause of death as blunt force trauma.
More information will be available once Wahlers is arraigned, as the criminal complaint documenting the allegations and details is not publicly available until that time.
All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using public court records.
