Contact: Beth Stone 508-584-8120
BROCKTON – A man has pleaded not guilty to charges that he caused and then fled a motor vehicle crash that left a woman dead, Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy J. Cruz has announced.
Today, in Brockton District Court, Juan Leonardo Parra Altamirano, 33, pleaded not guilty to one count each of Leaving the Scene of a Crash that Caused Personal Injury Resulting in Death, Leaving the Scene of a Crash That Caused Personal Injury, and Leaving the Scene of a Crash that Caused Property Damage. He was ordered held on $100,000 cash bail with conditions that if bail were made, Altamirano would wear a GPS monitoring bracelet, be home confined, surrender his passport and not leave the Commonwealth.
At approximately 10:30 p.m. on Monday, a 2008 Toyota Scion TC and a 2015 Honda Accord were traveling northbound on Route 24 in West Bridgewater. As the Toyota changed lanes, it made contact with the Honda, and the impact projected the Honda to the median where it came in contact with a concrete barrier. The Toyota fled the scene, leaving behind it’s bumper and license plate.
As the Honda came to rest in the left travel lane, a 2022 Ford pickup truck struck the rear of the Honda, causing it to become fully engulfed in flames. The West Bridgewater Fire Department responded and knocked down the motor vehicle fire. The female operator located inside the Honda was burned and clearly deceased. She has been identified as Erpharo Gilbert, 46, of Raynham.
Preliminarily, the investigation has determined that Altamirano was behind the wheel operating the Toyota Scion when he made contact with Gilbert’s vehicle, causing the motor vehicle to be disabled in the left lane. Altamirano then left the scene of the fatal crash, which closed Route 24 North for nearly four hours. Altamirano, turned himself in to State Police in Middleboro this morning.
He is next scheduled to appear in court on May 4.
The crash investigation, which is ongoing, was led by the Massachusetts State Police Detective Unit for Plymouth County, with assistance from State Police Troop D, the State Police Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Section, and the State Police Crime Scene Services Section.