Hit-and-run fatal left community mourning
POTTSTOWN » A crash earlier this year left a young man dead, another man charged and a community in mourning.
On March 3, 2017, Donald Purnell, 24, had been crossing Route 100 just before 8 p.m. to get to his job at Wendy’s when he was struck by a vehicle headed southbound. The vehicle fled the scene and authorities later pronounced Purnell dead.
The investigation and witness interviews led investigators to believe that a dark-colored pickup truck travelling south on Route 100 struck Purnell at highway speed and immediately fled the scene. The pickup truck was last seen heading south on Route 100 toward King Street. Police said the vehicle would have had frontend damage from the impact.
Following the initial crash, Purnell was struck again by a second
vehicle, the driver of which had not seen the victim lying on the road. The driver, who was not identified by police, stopped the vehicle immediately and remained on scene until police arrived. Police said the driver cooperated with police during the investigation.
An autopsy was performed the following day and Purnell’s cause of death was determined to be multiple injuries as a result of the crash. Police were informed by forensic pathologists that the initial impact would have led to Purnell’s death.
Police late identified the original driver as Adam Timbario, 28, of Gilbertsville. Police alleged that after striking Purnell, Timbario left the scene without stopping. Witnesses to the accident told police the truck struck Purnell and did not slow down as it proceeded down Route 100.
Through the course of an investigation, police were informed that Timbario had contacted a potential buyer for the Ford XLT. The buyer told police that Timbario had offered to sell the vehicle for $4,500. The buyer said he looked at the truck on March 2 while it was parked in Gilbertsville. When the buyer left Thursday night with no deal, Timbario contacted him Friday, 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 to $1,800 and sent photographs, police said. The two agreed to meet the following Saturday morning at 1200 E. High St.
During the meeting, Timbario explained that the damage was caused by a tire that came over the median and slammed into the hood. Timbario accepted when the buyer offered $1,500 for the truck.
The truck was then driven by Timbario to Deep Creek Road to be looked at for repairs. By 5:55 p.m., the buyer was notified by his repair person about the fatal crash and the ongoing search for a truck with front end damage. The buyer then contacted police, authorities said.
Detectives later determined that the vehicle was a match for the pickup truck involved in the crash.
Police interviewed Timbario on March 4, at which time he told police that he had been involved in an accident on Route 100 in Pottstown on March 3. He said he had been driving his truck on Route 100 toward Pottstown after leaving Applebee’s. After passing through the intersection at Shoemaker Road, he said an unidentified object came from his left hand side and hit his truck in the center of the grill. He then got out at the next traffic light to find his grill smashed and the hood and front bumper bent.
When he returned to the BP Gas Station at the intersection of Shoemaker Road, he said he saw police vehicles and decided to drive his truck to his fiancee’s house and park it there. He told police he had been travelling 60 miles per hour at the time of the crash.
On Tuesday, March 7, an inspection of the truck determined that there were no mechanical failures or defects that would have contributed to the crash.
Timbario was charged with leaving the scene of an accident involving death or injury, tampering with or fabricating physical evidence and other related charges.