Driver charged in Eastern Blvd. traffic death

A 19-year-old Williamsport man was killed, and a Hagerstown woman and her 3-year-old son were flown to hospitals after a two-vehicle accident Monday night on Eastern Boulevard near Security Road, the Washington County Sheriff’s Office said.

Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Carly Hose said Luis Enrique Salazar-Reyna, a front-seat passenger in a 1999 Toyota Corolla, died at Meritus Medical Center shortly after the 11:55 p.m. accident.


The driver of the Corolla, Denise Baez, 22, of Hagerstown, was flown to R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Medical Center in Baltimore.

Baez was listed in critical condition, a hospital spokeswoman said Wednesday morning.

Hose said Baez’s son, 3-year-old Yesiel Baez, was riding in the back seat of the car. He was flown to Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C.

Yesiel Baez was not listed as a patient Tuesday afternoon, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Stephen Bonafede, 28, of Mountville, Pa., was charged with one count each of negligent manslaughter by vehicle; criminal negligent manslaughter by vehicle; negligent vehicle homicide — under the influence; negligent vehicle homicide — while impaired; driving a vehicle while impaired by alcohol; and driving a vehicle under the influence of alcohol.

He also was charged with two counts each of causing life-threatening injuries with a vehicle while impaired and causing life-threatening injuries with a vehicle under the influence.

Bonafede was released from the Washington County Detention Center on Tuesday after posting $100,000 bond, a Washington County District Court commissioner said.

Bonafede was driving a 2004 Cadillac CTS north on Eastern Boulevard at about 11 p.m. when the vehicle crossed the center line near Security Road and collided with a southbound Toyota being driven by Baez, according to a sheriff’s office news release.

All three occupants of the Toyota initially were taken to Meritus Medical Center, the release said.