Trial begins for man accused in Route 100 fatal pedestrian crash
NORRISTOWN » A Douglass (Mont.) man knew that he struck a pedestrian crossing Route 100 in Pottstown but did not stop to render aid, a Montgomery County prosecutor argued to a jury.
“As his body was flown into the air…the defendant did not stop, he did not ask for help, he didn’t assist in any way. He ran,” Assistant District Attorney Richard Bradbury Jr. argued as the trial for Adam J. Timbario got under way on Thursday.
Timbario, 31, of the first block of Hawthorne Avenue, faces charges of accidents involving death or personal injury and tampering with physical evidence 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 Purnell.
“The evidence will show very clearly that when he struck Mr. Purnell he knew he struck another human being. The defendant knew what he had done and
However, defense lawyer Francis Genovese asked jurors to “keep an open mind,” adding “there’s two sides to every story.”
“Put yourself in Mr. Timbario’s position, behind the wheel of his pickup truck,” Genovese argued to jurors during his opening statement, maintaining Timbario believed he may have struck a tire but did not believe he struck a person. “The evidence will show he could not appreciate or comprehend it was a pedestrian that struck the front of his vehicle.”
If convicted of the felony charge of accidents involving death or personal injury - essentially leaving the scene – Timbario faces a possible mandatory sentence of three years in prison.
Timbario appeared calm as the trial got under way before Judge Risa Vetri Ferman and occasionally consulted with Genovese as Bradbury questioned several other motorists who were in the area at the time of the incident.
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 pickup truck operated by Timbario, according to prosecutors.
Timbario left the scene without stopping or providing aid, detectives alleged. Witnesses to the crash told police the truck struck Purnell and did not slow down as it proceeded south on Route 100, according to court papers.
Joanna Moyer, of Limerick, who was a passenger in a vehicle traveling northbound on Route 100, testified she saw a person wearing dark clothing crossing the road and enter the median and observed the pickup truck strike the pedestrian.
“His head just cleared the hood of it,” Moyer testified, recalling she heard a loud impact.
Melissa Keplinger, of Stowe, testified she was traveling southbound on Route 100, approaching Shoemaker Road, behind the pickup truck.
“I saw a person crossing the street and I said, ‘They’re going to get hit,’” Keplinger testified.
Keplinger did not see the impact because she turned right onto Shoemaker Road. Under cross examination by Genovese Keplinger testified that the driver of the pickup truck had not been driving erratically during the time she was traveling behind it.
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.
Turner testified Purnell’s sneakers were recovered at the scene.
“The sneakers were knocked off the victim during the course of the impact,” Turner told the jury of seven men and five women.
During the investigation, police learned that Timbario had previously 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 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 to $1,800 and sent photographs, police alleged.
Prosecutors maintain Timbario gave inconsistent statements while being interviewed by detectives.