No criminal charges expected in Pelham pedestrian death

Published 3:15 pm Wednesday, February 5, 2014

One juvenile was killed and another was injured after they were struck by a truck near the intersection of Alabama 119 and Cahaba Valley Parkway on Feb. 4. (Contributed)

One juvenile was killed and another was injured after they were struck by a truck near the intersection of Alabama 119 and Cahaba Valley Parkway on Feb. 4. (Contributed)

By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

Pelham police said they do not believe alcohol, speeding or drugs were involved when a pickup truck struck two juveniles on Alabama 119 on Feb. 4, killing one teen and injuring the other.

The accident happened when a busload of students from Montgomery’s Robert E. Lee High School made a meal stop in Pelham on their way back from a field trip to Huntsville, according to Pelham police.

Pelham police and firefighters responded to a call of a pedestrian struck by a vehicle near the intersection of Alabama 119 and Cahaba Valley Parkway shortly after 6 p.m. on Feb. 4, according to Pelham Police Lt. David Rushton. When officers arrived on the scene, they discovered the two juvenile males had been struck by a pickup truck.

One teen, who was identified by Shelby County Coroner Diana New as 16-year-old Montgomery resident Alexander Reid Cunningham Bridgman, suffered fatal injuries in the incident, and the other was transported to a local hospital to be treated for non-life-threatening injuries.

In an update released on Feb. 5, the Pelham Police Lt. David Rushton said the juveniles were attempting to cross Alabama 119, and were not in a pedestrian crosswalk when they were struck by a pickup truck traveling southbound on Alabama 119.

“The juveniles were not in a designated pedestrian crosswalk at the time of the collision and there are no indications that excessive speed, alcohol or drugs were involved,” read the police department’s press release. “The collision investigation is still ongoing.”