Pennsylvania State Police say a man upset over an argument with his mother drove into a crowd at a fundraiser for the victims of a recent deadly house fire, killing one person at the event and injuring 17 others, then he returned home and beat his mother. death. Police identified the driver as 24-year-old Adrian Oswaldo Sura Reyes of Nescopeck, who was arraigned early Sunday on two counts of murder. Police allege in a criminal complaint that Sura Reyes said he was arguing with his mother at their home in Nescopeck on Saturday night and while driving to nearby Berwick he was “extremely frustrated” and “tired of fighting with his mother, among other things for money, and he wanted to be done with it.” At the time, police said, a crowd of about 75 people, including adults and young children, had gathered in a cordoned-off parking lot in Berwick outside the bar of the Department of Toxicology, which was holding an all-day fundraiser to benefit victims of the fire. of August 5 in Nescopeck that killed seven adults and three children. Police say Sura Reyes told them she drove past the gathering, then turned around and returned to the bar “to drive into the crowd.” “Video surveillance collected by the Pennsylvania State Police corroborates Sura Reiss’ statement that she sped into the crowd on purpose,” according to the criminal complaint. Geisinger Medical Center said it received 15 patients after the crash, and five remained in critical condition while three were in good condition, a hospital spokesman said Sunday morning. Seven patients were treated at hospitals and released. Trooper Anthony Petroski III told reporters late Saturday that Sura Reyes was not currently a suspect in the fire, the cause of which remains under investigation. “This is a complete tragedy in a community where tragedy has already happened,” Petroski said. Shortly after the crash was reported, troopers were called about a man “physically assaulting” a woman less than two miles away in Nescopeck. The soldiers arrived to find that the local police had arrested Sura Reyes and a woman was dead. Luzerne County Coroner Francis Hacken confirmed Sunday that the victim, Rosa D. Reyes, 56, of Nescopeck, was the mother of Sura Reyes and died of multiple traumatic injuries after being struck by a vehicle and attacked with a hammer. In the criminal complaint, police say Shura Reiss told investigators he saw his mother in the street on her way home and hit her with his vehicle, then hit her with a hammer several times. Sura Reyes was denied bail and remained in the Columbia County Jail pending an Aug. 29 preliminary hearing. News outlets reported that he said “I’m sorry” in response to questions from reporters as he was led away from the Shickshinny police station. It was not immediately clear if he had an attorney available to comment on his behalf. The first funerals for the victims of the fire were held on Friday, with others scheduled for Sunday and Monday. The bar called the events “an absolute tragedy” and said on its Facebook page that it would remain closed until further notice and would like privacy “while we grieve, add try to process the events that have occurred.”
