Philadelphia

Biker Dies, Woman and 4 Children Hurt as Motorcycle Slams Into SUV in Philadelphia

Cervantes Santos died after slamming his motorcycle into an SUV filled with a woman and four girls, Philadelphia police say. The woman and children are

What to Know

  • A motorcyclist collided with a woman's SUV at a busy Port Richmond intersection Monday night.
  • Biker Cervantes Santos died a couple hours later at the hospital.
  • The four girls in the SUV were treated at a children's hospital.

A man died while a woman and four girls were hurt in a crash involving a motorcycle and an SUV in Philadelphia Monday night.

Cervantes Santos was riding his Agusta Rivale motorcycle near Aramingo Avenue and Venango Street in the Port Richmond neighborhood around 6:35 p.m., Philadelphia police said.

Brenda Vazquez, an employee at a nearby store, told NBC10 the biker was traveling at a high speed and then struck a Honda driven by a woman. Police later said that the motorcycle struck the rear passenger door of the Honda.

"His body hit the car and he just went flying," Vazquez said. "It was a horrible scene."

NBC10 also obtained surveillance video showing the motorcycle going north on Aramingo and crashing into the Honda as it turned left from southbound Aramingo onto Venango. The area is normally busy, full of stores and businesses.

Four girls were inside the Honda at the time of the crash, police said. Vazquez said one of her co-workers called 911 while the rest of them helped the woman and the girls.

"The mom came out of the car," Vazquez said. "She gave me a car seat but because there was a blanket on top I didn't know what it was until I heard a cry."

Santos was taken to Temple University Hospital where doctors pronounced him dead at 8:20 p.m., investigators said. He was 32.

The 34-year-old woman and the girls, a 1-month-old and 5-, 9- and 11-year-olds, were taken to St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children where doctors listed them in stable condition, police said.

"It was a baby covered in glass, little cuts everywhere," Vazquez said. "And then the little sister came and she just like jumped on top of me. Just crying, bleeding, worrying about her little sister inside the car."

Vazquez told NBC10 she and her co-workers tried to provide comfort to the family after the crash.

"The way the mom was acting, couldn't speak, couldn't get her husband on the phone," Vazquez said. "It was heartbreaking."

The Accident Investigation Division continued to investigate the crash Tuesday, police said. Vazquez, meanwhile, remains haunted by what she witnessed.

"I'm a mom and then seeing something like that, like it broke my heart," she said. "I barely slept last night. That image in my head."

Contact Us