Driver Charged With Manslaughter in Summerdale Traffic Fatality
By: Rick McCann
Blue RAM Media/Gulf Coast News
November 22, 2025
SUMMERDALE, Ala.
On Friday, November 21, 2025, at around 6:30 p.m., the Baldwin County 911 Communications Center received a call of a serious traffic collision in Summerdale, at the intersection of County Road 73 and Sanborn Avenue.
Summerdale police, Summerdale Fire Department, and EMS were dispatched to this area and found that one of the vehicles involved in the traffic collision had flipped over, and a person was trapped.
ALEA also responded to the scene to investigate the collision.
According to troopers, Thomas B. Harber, 67, was fatally injured when the 2018 Jeep Wrangler he was driving was struck by the 2009 Jeep Grand Cherokee driven by Nemecio Cruz, 56, also of Summerdale.
Harber was not using a seat belt at the time of the crash, was ejected and pronounced deceased at the scene.
Cruz was transported to South Baldwin Regional Medical Center, where he was treated and later released.
After being released from the Medical Center, Cruz was arrested and charged with Vehicular Manslaughter. Cruz was then transported to the Baldwin County Jail and currently does not have a bond.
Currently, ALEA has not released further details of why Mr. Cruz faces the manslaughter charge.
Troopers with the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency’s (ALEA) Highway Patrol Division continue to investigate.
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