Not guilty plea in alleged DUI fatal crash

NORRISTOWN >> A Philadelphia man has pleaded not guilty to charges he was driving drunk and speeding at the time of a two-vehicle crash in Hatfield Township careless driving and speeding in connection with the 4:52 a.m. April 1 crash that claimed the life of 80-yearold Shirley Russell.

By waiving his arraignment, Johnson did not have to appear before a judge for a formal reading of the charges lodged against him. Johnson, who is represented by defense lawyer Damien D. Brewster, faces an Aug. 23 pretrial conference before Judge Thomas P. Rogers. Johnson remains in the county jail in lieu of $95,000 cash bail while awaiting trial.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Lindsey O’Brien.

A conviction of homicide by vehicle while DUI is punishable of a mandatory three-year prison term.

With the charges, authorities alleged Johnson was traveling northbound on Welsh Road at a high rate of speed and disregarded a red light at Forty Foot Road, smashing into a car operated by Russell, who had just entered the intersection. The collision flipped Russell’s car onto its side, according to investigators.

After the crash, Johnson allegedly removed the registration plate from his back window and fled the scene, according to the criminal complaint filed by county detective David Schanes and Hatfield Township Police Sgt. Jeffrey A. Boyd.

Russell, who suffered severe blunt impact injuries, was pronounced dead at the scene by medical personnel, authorities said.

According to the criminal complaint, about an hour after the collision a man, later identified as Johnson, approached a Hatfield police officer on foot at the crash scene and said, “I’m the one you’re looking for. I was the driver.”

Johnson was detained by police and transported to an area hospital for a blood test. A forensic toxicologist later determined that Johnson’s blood alcohol content at the time of the crash was .086 percent, plus or minus .006 percent, according to court documents.

The legal limit in Pennsylvania is .08 percent.

Johnson later admitted to consuming an alcoholic drink at 8 p.m. on the night prior to the crash, the complaint alleged.