York County man charged with vehicular homicide in fatal crash

York Daily Record

A Brogue man has been charged with vehicular homicide in a 2018 crash that claimed the life of 28-year-old Samantha Rodriguez in Chanceford Township, according to court records.

Robert Eugene Yarnell, 68, told state police that he had fallen asleep at the wheel, causing his pickup truck to cross the center line of Route 74 and crash into Rodriguez's northbound SUV. Rodriguez, of the 11000 block of Hively Road in Brogue, was pronounced dead at the scene.

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The crash occurred just before 8:30 a.m. Oct. 18, 2018, on Route 74 near Bacon Road.

According to a criminal complaint filed Thursday, Yarnell told troopers that he was driving home from working an overnight shift. "Yarnell's only recollection of the incident was post collision and waking up in his truck."

A reconstruction of the crash revealed that Yarnell's 2006 Dodge Ram was traveling at 53 mph when it crossed the center line and crashed head-on into Rodriguez's Mazda CX-5. The investigation concluded that Rodriguez's vehicle was traveling at 43 mph.

"Due to a crest in the road," the complaint states, "Samantha Rodriguez did not observe the Dodge Ram in her lane of travel until she was beyond the point of escape and was unable to attempt evasive maneuvers to avoid this head-on collision."

Two children in the backseat of the car, one 3 months old and the other 3 years old, were taken to Hershey Medical Center to be treated for what were described as serious injuries. One of the children suffered "a possible broken femur bone," according to the criminal complaint.

In addition to vehicular homicide, Yarnell is charged with two counts of aggravated assault by vehicle and four traffic violations.

District Magisterial Judge John Fishel has issued a warrant for his arrest.