BERKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA — A Texas tractor-trailer driver who allegedly struck and killed a flatbed truck driver who had pulled to the shoulder of Interstate 78 to fix his load straps, then fled the scene, was arrested in Louisiana a week later — still driving the same truck he used to kill the victim — after admitting to the crash when pulled over by sheriff’s deputies.
Ameer Nassar, 25, of Houston, Texas, was pulled over at approximately 8:20 a.m. on Tuesday by the West Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office. He was driving the same box truck involved in the fatal crash. According to charging documents, Nassar admitted to being involved in a crash in Pennsylvania and leaving the scene. Pennsylvania State Police investigators traveled to Louisiana, processed the vehicle, and transported Nassar back to Pennsylvania. The West Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Department and Louisiana State Police assisted.
The Fatal Crash
On April 10, 2026, at approximately 11:15 a.m., Phillip Daniel Henderson, 33, of Bessemer, Florida, had pulled his blue Volvo tractor-trailer to the eastbound shoulder of I-78 near mile marker 13.3 in Bethel Township to fix straps on his flatbed. While working along the shoulder and right lane, Nassar’s truck struck Henderson and kept going eastbound without stopping. Henderson was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police described the striking vehicle as a white tractor-trailer with heavy to moderate damage on the passenger side, a missing passenger side mirror, and possibly a piece of Henderson’s blue Volvo flatbed tractor-trailer stuck to it.
How Investigators Found Him
Investigators used videos of Nassar’s truck and the crash scene, U.S. Department of Transportation records to identify the vehicle, and license plate readers to track its movements. The last location captured by plate readers placed the truck in Forrest County, Mississippi, on Tuesday at 1:51 a.m. — before West Baton Rouge sheriff’s deputies pulled him over hours later. It was also discovered that Nassar had been cited by Maryland State Police in October 2025 for not displaying a carrier name or DOT number on the passenger side of the truck — the same vehicle with the same registration as the striking vehicle.
Charges and Bond
Nassar was arraigned Thursday afternoon by Magisterial District Judge Andrea Book and placed in Berks County Prison with bail set at $30,000. He faces charges of accidents involving death or personal injury, accidents involving damage to an attended vehicle, failure to stop and give information or render aid, and failure to notify police of an accident involving injury or death. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for April 22.
All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
📸 Image(s) used under fair use for news reporting.
