A first day tragedy at the University of Delaware left a freshman killed in a motorcycle crash after the alleged unlicensed suspect fled campus police.
(Video: NBC10 Philadelphia)
Tuesday on the Newark, Delaware campus, just before midnight, 18-year-old Noelia Gomez was reportedly walking among friends and classmates after completing her first day of classes. It was then that 27-year-old Brian Briddle allegedly fatally struck the freshman from Clark, New Jersey as he was said to have been fleeing an attempted traffic stop.
NBC 10 detailed that a University of Delaware officer had attempted to stop the motorcyclist for a traffic violation said to have occurred east of the intersection where Gomez was struck. While the officer did not pursue the suspect, instead turning off his emergency lights per campus policy, Briddle allegedly sped westbound where the victim was struck roughly a minute later.
In addition to Gomez being pronounced dead at the scene, the rider had been thrown from the vehicle that went on to strike four other pedestrians, leaving three with minor injuries and sending one to the hospital.
By Thursday, the Newark Delaware Police Department had obtained a warrant for the arrest of Briddle and had charged him with second-degree murder as well as possession of a deadly weapon during the commission of a felony, disregarding a police officer’s signal, driving a special vehicle without a special license, operating an unregistered motor vehicle and three counts of failing to stop at a red light
Following an appearance in Justice of the Peace Court, he was ordered held in default with bail set at $362,005 before he was placed in the custody of the Howard R. Young Correctional Institution in Wilmington, Delaware.
“It’s just a tragic circumstance where this poor young lady was there and when this happened and unfortunately she lost her life as a result of a traffic crash,” Newark Police Department Sgt. Jay Conover told NBC 10.
He also said, “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.”
According to the victim’s obituary, she had graduated from Union Catholic High School in Scotch Plains, New Jersey with honors.
“It’s sickening because it’s just a freshman,” said university student Jason Blottner to NBC 10. “I know that she came here to start pursuing her dreams, whatever her career is, and it just got taken to her.”
A statement from University of Delaware President Dennis Assanis and Vice President for Student Life José-Luis Riera expressed in part, “Incidents such as this are unimaginably tragic. We cannot express enough how sorry we are for the family, friends, and greater community as we are all so deeply shaken by the sudden loss of one of our own. Our hearts are very heavy today.”
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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