Man sent to prison for hitand-run death on Route 100
NORRISTOWN » Saying a former Douglass (Mont.) man had numerous chances to do the right thing but failed the “test of his character,” a judge sent him to prison for leaving the scene after fatally striking a pedestrian on Route 100 and trying to cover up the crime by taking steps to sell his damaged pickup truck.
“You’ve shown me through your conduct an utter lack of remorse, not one iota of decency,” Montgomery County Judge Risa Vetri Ferman said Friday as she sentenced Adam J. Timbario to five to 12 years in state prison in connection with the 7:55 p.m. March
3, 2017, incident on Route 100 near Shoemaker Road that resulted in the death of 24-year-old Donald “Donny” Purnell.
“Prior to driving away there was no crime. That moment was a crossroads. It was a moment to test character,” Ferman said.
During a trial earlier this year, testimony revealed Timbario drove about a quarter-mile and pulled onto the right shoulder of Route 100, got out of his vehicle and assessed the damage to his pickup truck and noticed damage to the vehicle’s hood, bumper and radiator, but observed no blood on the vehicle.
Timbario admitted that he proceeded to drive back to the area of Route 100 and Shoemaker Road and noticed emergency officials, including an ambulance near the intersection but did not approach emergency personnel to inquire about the situation or mention he had struck something.
“Mr. Timbario had the opportunity to acknowledge what he had done. It
was another test of his character. Instead of doing what was right, he drove away again and never looked back,” said Ferman.
The judge also ordered Timbario, 31, formerly of the first block of Hawthorne Avenue, to complete 400 hours of community service.
“I am sorry for your loss,” Timbario addressed Purnell’s family before learning his fate. “There’s not a day that goes by that March 3, 2017, doesn’t resonate in my mind. It was a horrible day. I will make better decisions.”
At trial, a jury convicted Timbario of charges of accidents involving death or personal injury and tampering with physical evidence in connection with the fatal crash.
Purnell’s mother and other relatives wept in court as they recalled the tragedy and asked the judge for justice. They described “Donny” as
“pure happiness,” a man with a bright smile who “always lit up the whole room with laughter.” Purnell is survived by a young daughter.
“My heart has been ripped away,” Purnell’s brother, Randall testified, adding nobody was there to comfort or help his brother as he lay dying on the roadway.
Some of Purnell’s friends and relatives wore memorial T-shirts embossed with Purnell’s photo.
Assistant District Attorney Richard Bradbury Jr. sought a lengthy state prison term, including the mandatory sentence of three years imprisonment allowable under law for the charge of accidents involving death or personal injury, which is essentially leaving the scene.
Bradbury pointed out that had Timbario stopped and done what the law and decency required by stopping and waiting for police and providing help to Purnell, he would not have been charged with a crime.
“The death of Mr. Purnell
was a tragedy. But the actions of the defendant were a disgrace,” Bradbury argued, adding Timbario took steps to “conceal, to lie and to deceive.”
Purnell, according to authorities, was on his way to his job at Wendy’s when he crossed Route 100 on foot, just 42 feet south of Shoemaker Road, and south of a pedestrian crosswalk. Purnell crossed the northbound lanes of the highway as well as the painted median and entered the left southbound passing lane when he was struck by a southbound red Ford F-150 pickup truck operated by Timbario, detectives said.
“He didn’t go out looking to hurt anybody on the night in question,” defense lawyer Francis Genovese argued to the judge, adding Timbario has no prior criminal record. “It was an accident.”
Genovese asked the judge not to sentence Timbario to any more than the three-year mandatory term.
During the trial, Bradbury argued Timbario, most recently
of Pottstown, knew he had struck a pedestrian but did not stop, didn’t notify police nor render aid.
But Genovese asked jurors to “keep an open mind” and to put themselves in Timbario’s position, “behind the wheel of his pickup truck.”
When Timbario testified at trial he recalled traveling southbound on Route 100, adding it “was dark” and that he saw no pedestrians in the roadway. Timbario said he suddenly saw “a shadow, a silhouette” come in front of him, but claimed he had no knowledge he had struck a pedestrian and that he theorized he hit tire debris being catapulted from another vehicle.
Other drivers in the area testified they saw a person wearing dark clothing crossing the highway and enter the median and observed the pickup truck strike the pedestrian. One woman testified the victim’s head “just cleared the hood” of the pickup truck.
Following the initial crash, Purnell was struck again by a second vehicle, the driver of
which had not observed him lying in the roadway. The second driver stopped his 2008 Hyundai vehicle immediately and remained on scene until police arrived. Police said the second driver cooperated with police during the investigation.
Upon arrival, Pottstown police found Purnell trapped under the front engine section of the Hyundai and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
An autopsy determined Purnell died from multiple injuries sustained in the crash and a forensic pathologist maintained “the nature of the injuries received by Mr. Purnell from the first impact would have led to his death,” according to a criminal complaint filed by county Detective Robert Turner.
During the investigation, police learned that Timbario had previously contacted a potential buyer for the Ford pickup. The buyer told police Timbario had offered to sell the vehicle for $4,500. The buyer said he looked at the
truck on March 2.
When the buyer left that night with no deal, Timbario contacted him again on March 3, between 8:30 and 8:45 p.m. to tell him the truck had been in an accident on Route 100. Timbario then offered to lower the price of the vehicle and sent photographs, testimony revealed.