Louisville police arrest 2 after violent crash that killed woman on Bardstown Road

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Two people were charged after a crash last week that killed a woman and sent her husband to the hospital with serious injuries.

Police responded around 1 p.m. Friday to the 9100 block of Bardstown Road at Bardstown Falls Road on reports of a serious vehicle crash.

According to court documents, 42-year-old Yusnier Pachecho Bernal was driving a 2020 white Ford Mustang and was "drag racing with a blue BMW," traveling northbound on Bardstown Road. Police identified the alleged driver of the BMW as 38-year-old Adam Steele.

According to court documents, Pacheco Bernal hit a 2021 Toyota Rav4 that was headed west across the northbound lanes of Bardstown Road from Bardstown Falls Road. Witnesses said both vehicles were traveling at a high rate of speed before the crash, which caused a huge debris field, with parts from the wreckage strewn across both the northbound and southbound lanes of Bardstown Road.

A data recorder inside the Mustang indicated it was traveling at 119.6 mph at impact, according to the arrest slip.

The woman inside the Rav4 — identified in court documents as 77-year-old Myrtle Wacker — was pronounced dead at the scene. The man driving the Rav4 — 74-year-old Ronald Wacker — was taken to UofL Hospital with serious injuries, including broken ribs, a punctured lung and a lacerated liver.

Pacheco Bernal is facing several charges, including murder, assault, two counts of wanton endangerment, speeding 26 mph over the limit and operating a motor vehicle with an expired license.

Steele is charged with three counts of wanton endangerment, speeding 26 mph over the limit, leaving the scene of a accident without rendering aid, racing a motor vehicle on a public highway, tampering with physical evidence and operating a motor vehicle with an expired license.

"We're all aware this is a serious problem in our community, yet it's still going on despite LMPD cracking down on it," Judge Sarah Nicholson said during Pacheco Bernal's hearing Monday.

Both men pleaded not guilty to their charges in court Monday. Nicholson set Steele's bond at $150,000 and agreed to grant a request for work release for his job as a psychiatric nurse practitioner.

Pacheco Bernal's bond was set at $250,000 full cash.

Nicholson ordered both men not to drive again for any reason. Their next court appearance is scheduled for November.

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