Dauphin County, PA — July 23, 2025, Noel Soto was killed as the result of a trash truck accident at around 5:00 a.m. on Paxton Street/Route 322.
Authorities say that the crash took place at the Paxton Street and Witmer Drive intersection in the area of Rutherford.
Investigators said that 38-year-old Noel Soto was on a motorcycle traveling eastbound on Paxton Street at the time. A Penn Waste trash truck was going through the intersection, and it appears the motorcycle crashed into the driver’s side of the truck. Due to this, Noel Soto reportedly was killed.
The truck driver reportedly had unspecified injuries. Right now, additional claims from the police cannot be confirmed.
Commentary by Attorney Michael Grossman
It’s important to take early reports on this accident with a few grains of salt. To be clear, that’s not to discredit the authorities who handled these investigations or to claim anything in the news right now is inaccurate. Rather, I’ve seen too many instances throughout my career where authorities investigated a motorcycle accident and came to the wrong conclusion due to an officer’s negative bias against motorcyclists.
For example, I handled a case a while back where a motorcyclist was blamed for speeding and weaving through traffic before rear-ending a semi. The victim’s family, however, knew their loved one would never be so reckless. As we investigated further, it turned out the officer misinterpreted a witness statement. What the witness actually saw was the motorcyclist pass him (safely) on the left before then merging back to the right. The rider wasn’t at all driving recklessly, but it took a secondary independent investigation to set the record straight.
It could be that secondary investigations into this crash would merely confirm everything authorities already know. That’s something I tell folks all the time. An independent investigation does not guarantee a different story. On the contrary—it helps to ensure the truth is told. If evidence shows that authorities have the full story here, that alone can be a world of weight off a family’s shoulders. However, if there’s more to the story, an independent investigation may be a path that can reveal what initially slipped under the radar.
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