Posted on 04/14/2007 1:25:22 PM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
'98 top wrestler, woman traded gestures with other driver, police say
The Harrisburg-area man and woman in the Chrysler Sebring convertible exchanged obscene gestures with the driver of a pickup truck for some distance through morning commuter traffic on Interstate 270 near Frederick, Md., witnesses told Maryland State Police.
Moments later, Christian M. Luciano, 28, and his passenger, Lindsay L. Bender, 25, were dead.
Without warning, the driver of the pickup swerved into the left lane, in front of Luciano's 1998 Sebring, and slammed on his brakes, police said. Luciano, a former Pennsylvania high school state wrestling champion, swerved his car to the right, trying to avoid the truck.
He lost control of the convertible, which hit a guardrail, went airborne, struck several trees and overturned, police said. Luciano and Bender were ejected. A Maryland coroner pronounced both dead at the scene.
Police, calling the wreck a case of road rage, said last night they are looking for the driver of the pickup, who did not stop. They said witnesses described the man as white and wearing a baseball cap.
Luciano was the 1998 state champion in the 171-pound division for Northampton High School, Terry Daubert, who coached him in junior high, said last night. Daubert, who now coaches the high school varsity at Northampton, said Luciano was such a talent in junior high that he could beat most high school wrestlers.
"He was a man among boys in junior high school," Daubert said. "As a young kid, he could beat a lot of the kids in the high school. He was very talented from an early age."
Luciano's wrestling abilities earned him a scholarship at Arizona State University, but he left the university after a year, Daubert said.
Additional information on Bender was not available at press time.
Police said Luciano had moved to the Harrisburg area, but a local address was not available last night.
The accident occurred shortly after 8 a.m. Interstate 270 is a major commuter thoroughfare linking western Maryland with the Washington suburbs.
Police said they had not determined what led to the incident.
Luciano and Bender were not wearing seat belts, police said. The accident closed the southbound lanes of I-270 for more than three hours, police said.
Police continue hunt. Onetime Northampton athlete thrown from car.
Friday, April 13, 2007
By BEVIN MILAVSKY
The Express-Times
Maryland State Police continued to scour Interstate 270 near Frederick, Md., on Thursday for the driver of a pickup truck that may have caused a Wednesday morning crash that killed former Pennsylvania state wrestling champion Christian M. Luciano and his girlfriend.
Meanwhile, the girlfriend's family has put up a $5,000 reward for information that helps police identify the pickup truck driver.
Luciano, 28, and Lindsay L. Bender, 25, both of Harrisburg, died after an apparent road-rage incident in which witnesses told police they exchanged obscene gestures with the driver of a green Chevrolet pickup truck.
Luciano, formerly of Northampton, was a two-time District 11 Class AAA and Northeast Region champion from Northampton Area High School. He won a state championship at 171 pounds in 1998.
State police said after exchanging gestures, the truck swerved in front of Luciano's Chrysler Sebring, causing the car to strike and flip over a guardrail and hit several trees. Luciano and Bender were thrown from the car, police said. It happened about 8 a.m.
State police spokesman Sgt. Arthur Betts said police Thursday posted information boards along the interstate and were patrolling the area in case the pickup driver frequently travels the highway for work.
Betts said police have received numerous tips, but so far nothing has led to an identification of the driver. He said it is too early to say what criminal charges the driver could face.
"The most important thing is locating the vehicle and operator," he said.
An aunt of Bender told The Patriot-News in Harrisburg that Bender and Luciano had dated four or five years and recently moved into an apartment in Harrisburg.
The couple were headed to Hilton Head, S.C., to visit Bender's parents, the aunt said.
"It's an absolute tragedy," Ashleigh Bender told the newspaper. "It just should have never happened. We just hope the police can find the person who caused it."
Bender's relatives contacted Maryland State Police to offer the reward.
"Grieving family members hope that someone who may otherwise be reluctant to come forward will take this opportunity to contact troopers with the vital information," police said in a statement Thursday.
Police also said a dog riding in the car with Luciano and Bender survived the crash and was being held at the Frederick barracks for family members.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Proving once again......not everyone is amused by being “flipped off”...and that one shouldn’t take a finger to a truck fight.
Semper Fi
Agreed. I’m certainly not going to make liberal use of “the bird” out on the road anymore.
I accidentally cutoff a little BMW with my pickup truck when I was getting on the freeway from an onramp. Thinking nothing of it, I switched to the middle lane and out of the blue the BMW came in from the fast lane and cut into my lane and hit the brakes. I stomped on my brakes, but I wasn't too worried about who would have come out on top, literally, if we collided.
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