Bradford Township Police confirmed Monday the two vehicles
involved in crashes along West Washington Street on Friday had been
passing each other while traveling at excessive speeds, with one of
them resulting in the death of two local teenagers.

Meanwhile, the Bradford Area School District is making every
effort to provide adequate counseling to those students who are
distraught over the incident.

Bradford Township Police Chief David Doyle said Monday a vehicle
driven by Evan Yehl, 18, of 318 Derrick Road, Derrick City, and
another one driven by Jeffrey A. Caldwell, 19, of 11 Babcock Road,
were performing high speed passes of each other when Yehl lost
control of his vehicle while completing a pass. The vehicle then
struck several trees before coming to rest and erupting into
flames.

The crash, occurring around 10:18 p.m., would result in the
death of Yehl and Britt Bookhamer, 18, of 16 Melvin Ave., Bradford.
Both were students at Bradford Area High School.

Doyle said that Caldwell and the two passengers in his vehicle
saw the crash and he attempted to stop quickly but, in doing so,
left the berm and struck a guardrail.

The third occupant of the Yehl vehicle was Ian Clark, who
remains in fair condition at Hamot Medical Center in Erie after
sustaining injuries in the crash. Clark was reportedly pulled out
of the vehicle to safety by teens from the other vehicle.

The incident is still under investigation and Doyle expects that
some charges will be filed later this week.

McKean County Coroner Mike Cahill said Monday that toxicology
reports on Yehl and Bookhamer would not be returned for six to
eight weeks. Cahill said Sunday that Yehl died of blunt force
trauma to the head, while Bookhamer died of blunt force trauma to
the head and body.

Doyle asks the public to use caution around the crash site.

“There has been a sort of makeshift memorial created at the
crash site and we just want those visiting it to be sure that their
vehicles are safely off the roadway and that the people themselves
stay away from the road,” said Doyle. “We don’t need any more
tragedy at that location.”

The news of Friday’s tragic events spread quickly and the school
district put their emergency plan into immediate action. Counseling
services were made available at the high school over the weekend
and, according to Bradford Area School District Superintendent
Sandra Romanowski, Monday’s school day was far from a normal
day.

“Our student assistance team members have substitutes filling in
for them for the next couple days so that they can be made
available in the hallways to grieving students,” said Romanowski.
“Our major focus is to be there for the students here and to try
and get things back to normal during the day as quickly as
possible.”

Romanowski also touched on a school program that took place in
the high school Friday, just hours before the accident. A speaker
came in and spoke with a focus on the consequences of drinking and
driving and that students needed to think about their actions. The
program was sponsored by the Students Advocating Life without
Substance Abuse (SALSA).

Romanowski concluded by urging parents to monitor their children
for the next few days.

“If parents feel that their students are not fit to come to
school in light of the accident, I urge them to keep them home but
to be near them and monitor what they are doing,” she said. “These
students are fragile, too.”

Counseling for students will continue to be available at the
high school throughout the week.

A mock accident drill involving a school bus crash for various
municipal emergency agencies that was set to take place Monday at
Floyd C. Fretz Middle School was also canceled after the weekend
events.

Linda Costello from the school district bus garage said the
event was not rescheduled at this time and that due to the tragedy
over the weekend, officials did not think it would be in good taste
to go on with the program.

Visitation for Yehl will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. today at the
Emanuel Lutheran Evangelical Church, with funeral services
immediately following. Meanwhile, visitation for Bookhamer will be
held from 2 to 4 and 7 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at the Koch Chatley
Gaeto Funeral Home and Cremation Services Inc., where a funeral
service will follow.

Two passengers in Caldwell’s vehicle, Joshua M. Hilmes, 18, of
Lewis Run, and Brenton S. Goldthwait, 16, of Bradford, were taken
to Bradford Regional Medical Center for treatment of injuries,
police said. They were released later Friday evening.