Driver dies in Downingtown accident

A driver died and his passenger was injured in a crash in Downingtown, police said.

One person was killed and another was injured in a single-vehicle crash when the two occupants were on their way home from a meeting after drinking, according to police.

Downingtown police responded on Tuesday at 11:06 p.m. to the 100 block of Viaduct Avenue for a report of a single-car accident. Upon arrival, police upgraded the report to a serious crash. They found the vehicle resting on its side, on the driver’s side. Police said the driver appeared to have suffered a serious head injury.

Minquas Ambulance arrived and began to help the patients. Police identified the driver as Paul McGovern and his passenger, Rowena Schroder. McGovern wore his seat belt, however, Schroder had not and she had landed on top of McGovern, according to the police report. McGovern asked the medical personnel to remove her because he was having difficulty breathing with her body lying on top of his, according to the report.

Police on Thursday said that medical personnel were unable at first to remove either patient from the vehicle due to how the vehicle was resting and because of the way the two patients were trapped inside.

Minquas firefighters arrived and began to extricate the two occupants in the car. Police said that several attempts were made to free the passenger before the first responders were successful. Police said that by then, McGovern had stopped talking and moving. A medic determined that he was deceased, according to the police report.

Police said that according to Schroder, the two of them had consumed alcohol while at a meeting at a social club, a few blocks from where the crash occurred. She told police that they had planned to walk to McGovern’s home after the meeting, but because of a prior injury of hers, they decided to drive, according to the report. She was unable to provide police with details about the crash at that time.

A toxicology test will be performed.

A Downingtown police officer conducted an accident reconstruction and found that the vehicle had traveled south on Viaduct Avenue, passed under the underpass and it began to turn westbound but then traveled across the opposing lane of travel and struck the curb in the 100 block of Viaduct Avenue. Police said the vehicle then traveled westbound on its side, back across the roadway, and struck the curb which caused the vehicle to spin 180 degrees and rested facing eastbound.

Fire police shut down the roadway at West Lancaster Avenue and Bradford Avenue at West Church Street during the incident.