Wrong-Way MD Driver ID'd In Crash That Killed 5 Family Members

TOWNSEND, DE – The name of a driver from Maryland's Eastern Shore has been released after he allegedly drove the wrong way on a Delaware highway when his pickup truck crashed into a minivan, killing five New Jersey family members on Friday. A 2007 Ford F-350 pickup truck driven by Alvin S. Hubbard Jr., 44, of East New Market, Maryland, crossed a center median heading into oncoming traffic and struck a minivan carrying a New Jersey couple and their four daughters, Delaware police said.

Hubbard's pickup, for unknown reasons, crossed a grassy median and struck two vehicles. He was taken to a local area hospital, where he was treated and released with non-life threatening injuries, police said. He was wearing a seat belt, and it is unknown if driver-impairment was a factor.

The crash remains under investigation by the Delaware State Police Collision Reconstruction Unit. No charges had been filed.

The driver of the 1998 Toyota Sienna minivan, Audi Marquez Trinidad, 61, of Teaneck, N.J., was wearing a seat belt and was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the Delaware State Police. Also in the vehicle were his four daughters: Kaitlyn, 20; Danna, 17; and 13-year-old twins, Melissa and Allison, all of whom were not properly restrained and pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said.

His 53-year-old wife, Mary Rose Ballocanag, who was wearing a seat belt in the front passenger seat, was taken to a local hospital in Delaware, where she was admitted with serious injuries, police said.

Many in Teaneck have been grieving the loss of the five family members who had been returning from a vacation in Virginia. Their history was called an "American story" by those who knew them, starting with the father, Audi, who had emigrated from the Philippines and served in the U.S. Navy.

The crash happened at 3:47 p.m. on Route 1 in Townsend, Delaware, when a 2007 Ford F-350 pickup truck, traveling in the left lane, crossed a grassy center median and hit the family's minivan and a Mercury Sable, police said.

A GoFundMe page was also set up for Mary Rose as she recuperates from her injuries. The page had passed its $10,000 goal with more than $91,000 raised so far.

"It's certainly heartbreaking, as you can imagine," State Police Master Cpl. Melissa Jaffe said during the televised press conference. "Those of us who have family and children – I feel so badly for this family. I can't imagine what they're going through, to lose four children in a crash. It's just something that's unheard of."

Hubbard's passenger, a 30-year-old man from Hurlock, Maryland, was wearing a seat belt and was also treated and released at a local hospital police said.

The truck entered the northbound lanes where a 2002 Mercury Sable was traveling northbound on Route 1, just north of Pine Tree Road. The 1998 Toyota Sienna was traveling a short distance behind the Sable, police said.

The front driver's side of the F-350 pickup struck the left rear-side of the Sable, causing the Sable to spin out of control and come to a rest in an embankment, police said.

The F-350 pickup continued operating out-of-control southbound in the northbound lanes when the front of the Sienna struck the passenger's side of the pickup, police said.

The impact caused both vehicles to leave the roadway and head into a ditch.

The driver of the 2002 Mercury Sable, identified as 24-year old Brian C. Kern of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, was taken to a local area hospital, where he was treated and released with non-life threatening injuries. He was wearing a seat belt and impairment does not appear to be a factor, police said.

— Story by Patch Editor Tom Davis.

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