The Centre County District Attorney’s Office has filed a motion to revoke bail for the former Penn State student charged with vehicular homicide in a fatal crash last fall in State College.
Ahmed Alqubaisi, 20, had been out on $3 million bail since October after being charged for the Sept. 12 crash that killed 25-year-old Penn State graduate student Lovisa Arnesson-Cronhamre, of Sweden.
According to the emergency motion filed on Monday, Alqubaisi, of United Arab Emirates, was taken into federal custody on March 4, though it is not clear why. He is detained at Clinton County Prison, according to court records.
Under the terms of his original bail conditions, Alqubaisi was not permitted to leave Centre County and was under the supervision of the county probation and parole department. A modification to the terms granted in early January allowed him to travel to Harrisburg Area Community College to attend classes, since he is suspended from Penn State, but all other conditions remained in place, including an electronic monitoring device.
Alqubaisi, however, did not enroll and was not taking classes at the college, Assistant District Attorney Megan McGoron wrote in the motion to revoke bail. Prosecutors also learned that he was not living at the State College address provided to authorities and did not notify the court of a change in residence, according to the filing.
He also “made no effort to stay in communication with agents of the Probation Department,” as required by his bail conditions, McGoron wrote.
Alqubaisi did not answer multiple phone calls and text messages from probation officers, including after the department received “strap tamper” alerts for his ankle monitor on two occasions in February, according to a letter from the department to the court. He was instructed through his attorney to go to the department for his ankle monitor strap to be checked for wear, but Alqubaisi never showed up, a probation officer wrote.
A hearing on the motion to revoke bail is scheduled for Thursday.
Defense attorneys for Alqubaisi have not responded to a request for comment.
Alqubaisi was arrested following a Sept. 12 crash on the 200 block of East Park Avenue. According to an affidavit of probable cause filed by State College police, Alqubaisi was driving at an unsafe speed in the westbound lane at about 8 p.m. when he lost control of his 2024 BMW M3.
He crossed into the eastbound traffic lane and onto the sidewalk, where he hit Arnesson-Cronhamre, who was jogging at the time.
The impact of the crash threw Arnesson-Cronhamre about 80 feet. She was taken to Mount Nittany Medical Center and then flown to UPMC-Altoona, where she died from her injuries at about 2 a.m. on Sept. 13. A doctoral student from Sweden who was studying architectural engineering, Arnesson-Cronhamre suffered a brain bleed, broken neck, shattered right arm and broken left foot.
Alqubaisi, according to the affidavit, had a learner’s permit and did not have a licensed driver in the vehicle with him at the time of the crash.
In addition to felony homicide by vehicle, Alqubaisi is charged with misdemeanor counts of involuntary manslaughter and recklessly endangering another person, as well as summary offenses of careless driving causing unintentional death and driving at an unsafe speed.
Because Alqubaisi is suspended from the university and has no other ties to Pennsylvania, the investigating detective wrote in the affidavit that he posed a flight risk.
After Alqubaisi was denied bail by District Judge Gregory Koehle at a preliminary arraignment, Centre County President Judge Jonathan Grine set bail at $3 million following a Sept. 27 hearing. It’s believed to be the largest bail amount in Centre County history.
In addition to the ankle monitor and travel restrictions, Alqubaisi was required to surrender his passport and visa.
Arnesson-Cronhamre’s family opposed setting bail in the case. An online petition signed by more than 17,000 people supported the family’s objections.
