A speeding motorcyclist was charged with second-degree murder for fatally plowing into a University of Delaware freshman as she walked near campus on her first day of class, police said Friday.
Brian Briddle, 27, allegedly slammed into Noelia Gomez, 18, of Clark, NJ, while fleeing from a traffic stop as the student walked with friends just before midnight Tuesday, according to ABC 6.
Briddle, of Newark, Del., crashed into Gomez at “high rate of speed” roughly one minute after a police officer had tried to pull him over for several traffic offenses, cops said.
Briddle fell off the motorcycle during the collision and the vehicle skidded along the sidewalk, injuring four other pedestrians, according to police.
Gomez was pronounced dead at the scene. Briddle was taken to a hospital with a non-life-threatening injury. His mugshot showed him with a painful-looking black eye and other injuries on his face.
On Thursday, Briddle was taken into custody at his home and charged with murder in the second degree, along with possession of a deadly weapon while committing a felony, according to NBC Philadelphia.
The type of weapon he had wasn’t immediately clear.
Gomez, who was in a crosswalk when she was hit, had completed the first class of her college career earlier in the day.
“I feel horrible for her family and everyone that was there who witnessed it,” Courtney May, a junior at the university, told the station
Students, cops and school officials expressed sadness and outrage this week.
“As a parent, I can’t imagine you’re sending your child off to school to see the world, and going away from home, and getting that call or that visit unfortunately early in the morning, it’s truly tragic,” said Newark police Sgt. Jay Conover.
The university called Gomez’s death “unimaginably tragic.”
“Our hearts are very heavy today,” president Dennis Assanis and vice president for student life José-Luis Riera said in a statement. “Incidents such as this are unimaginably tragic. We cannot express enough how sorry we are for the family, friends, and greater community.”
The crash remains under investigation.
