A driver who vanished into the woods after smashing a stolen car into a utility pole—leaving his passenger behind to bleed and scream for help—has finally been arrested, Lehigh County prosecutors announced on Wednesday, July 16, 2025.
Jose Vladmir Jerez, 24, known by witnesses only as “Los Ten,” is now charged in the death of Ezequiel Hernandez-Cartagena, a 20-year-old from Allentown, who died after the wreck on Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024.
Jerez, also of Allentown, is facing the following charges:
- Felony Accidents Involving Death or Personal Injury.
- Felony Homicide by Vehicle.
- Misdemeanor Involuntary Manslaughter.
- Misdemeanor Recklessly Endangering Another Person.
- Misdemeanor Receiving Stolen Property.
- Summary offenses including Reckless Driving, Unsafe Speed, Driving Outside Marked Lanes, and Failure to Report an Injury Crash.
He was already in Lehigh County Jail on unrelated matters when Bethlehem police and the District Attorney’s Office served the charges. Bail was set at $100,000. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, July 22 at 2 p.m. in Courtroom 1C.
Passenger Died Alone After Driver Fled
Bethlehem police were dispatched at 6:53 p.m. on Oct. 13, 2024, to the 700 block of Central Boulevard for a report of a single-vehicle crash with injuries. Officers arrived to find a silver Honda Accord mangled against a utility pole, pushed up a wooded embankment on the west side of the road…