Fatal crash lands teen in prison
NORRISTOWN >> A Philadelphia teenager charged as an adult in connection with an East Coventry, Chester County, residential break-in that was followed by a crash in Norristown that left one of his passengers dead is headed to prison.
Kareem Samuel Jr., now 17, of the 6000 block of Colgate Street, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court on Friday to five to 10 years in a state correctional facility in connection with the 5:40 a.m. Aug. 3, 2017, crash at Main and Hamilton streets in Norris-
town when he ignored a red light. The crash claimed the life of a rear seat passenger, 17-year-old Mark Thorne, of Bala Cynwyd, and injured an off-duty county deputy sheriff who was operating the second vehicle involved in the crash.
Thorne, one of five passengers in Samuel’s vehicle, was Samuel’s uncle. An autopsy determined Thorne died from multiple blunt force injuries.
“I loved Mark like he was my own brother. I am truly remorseful. This was one of the worst mistakes I could have made,” Samuel told Judge Risa Vetri Ferman before she imposed the sentence that was part of a plea agreement.
Ferman recommended Samuel be housed at the State Correctional Institution at Pine Grove, a facility in Indiana County in western Pennsylvania that has programs for young offenders. Samuel also must complete 10 years’ probation following parole, for a total of 20 years of supervision.
Ferman cautioned Samuel, who has no prior criminal record, that the next five years will not be easy and
urged him to avoid negative influences in prison and to complete all rehabilitative programs offered by the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections.
“You put yourself on a trajectory that I’m sure you never imagined. You took the life of someone who was beloved to you…and it has wracked you with guilt. The loss of life, the loss of Mark Thorne is a tragedy that cannot be fixed,” Ferman said.
The hearing was filled with emotional testimony from Samuel’s mother, who was Thorne’s sister, and Thorne’s mother, who is the grandmother to Samuel. Ferman said it was not lost on her that the family was divided.
“You’re all suffering, I can see it around the room,” Ferman said.
Samuel pleaded guilty to charges of homicide by vehicle, aggravated assault, accidents involving death or injury while not properly licensed, recklessly endangering others, fleeing and eluding police and numerous summary traffic offenses including ignoring stop signs and red traffic signals in connection with the crash.
Samuel also pleaded guilty to burglary and conspiracy to commit burglary in connection with the residential
break-in along Ridge Road in East Coventry, Chester County, which preceded the crash.
Samuel was 16 at the time of the incidents and because of the violent nature of the offenses was charged as an adult. Assistant District Attorney Lauren Heron said the plea agreement negotiations took into account the seriousness of the crime and Samuel’s age.
Samuel, who was represented by defense lawyers Jack McMahon and Emily Cherniack, was facing a trial on the charges in November.
A charge of third-degree murder was dismissed against Samuel as part of the plea agreement.
The four other passengers in the car, three adults and a 17-year-old juvenile male, were charged with burglaryrelated offenses in connection with the East Coventry break-in.
Dawud Russell McKnight, 21, of the 100 block of Hartranft Avenue, Norristown, previously pleaded no contest to charges of burglary and conspiracy to commit burglary in connection with the break-in and is awaiting sentencing. A no contest plea is not an admission of guilt but is an admission that prosecutors have sufficient evidence to convict.
Brian Keith Walters, 21, of the 800 block of George Street, Norristown, previously pleaded guilty to charges of burglary and conspiracy and is awaiting sentencing later this year.
“All of these individuals engaged in a conspiracy to commit the crime of burglary. The conspiracy continued as the actors returned to Norristown to examine the profits of the burglary and took flight from law enforcement in an effort to remain undetected in their criminal activity,” Norristown Detective Charles Leeds and county Detective William Mitchell alleged in the criminal complaint.
The investigation began about 5:30 a.m. Aug. 3 when Norristown police received a report of suspicious activity involving several males in a white vehicle in the area of the first block of Buttonwood Street. The caller told police the males were discarding items and breaking into other items while stopped in that area.
As police headed to the area they observed a white 2003 Hyundai Sonata vehicle occupied by several males ignore a stop sign on Buttonwood Street and travel east onto Washington Street, according to court papers.
Police tried to follow the
vehicle but authorities said the driver, later determined to be Samuel, fled. Surveillance cameras showed Samuel ignored 10 stop signs, including one where he nearly struck another motorist, according to the criminal complaint.
As police were searching for the vehicle they learned it had crashed at Main and Hamilton streets, according to the criminal complaint. Samuel ignored a red traffic signal while traveling northbound on Hamilton Street and collided with a black Chevrolet Suburban, operated by an off-duty deputy sheriff, which was traveling eastbound on Main Street and had the right of way. The deputy was treated for injuries sustained in the crash and later released.
Witnesses in the area told detectives they observed a car “flying” through the intersection before it collided with the Chevrolet Suburban. Authorities alleged Samuel was traveling 55 mph at the time of the crash in an area posted for 25 mph.
During the search of the vehicle that Samuel was driving, detectives found a safe on the rear floor, wedged between the front and rear seats. The investigation determined the safe had been stolen from the East Coventry
home during a break-in earlier that morning.
The victim of the East Coventry burglary reported that two safes and two knives had been stolen from the home. The second safe was found by police at the Buttonwood Street location in Norristown where witnesses first reported the suspicious activity of the men.
Walters told detectives the six males took part in the burglary in East Coventry, climbing over a fence to gain access to the property before entering the unoccupied home, court documents alleged. Once back in Norristown, Samuel drove the men to the Buttonwood Street area where they stopped and tried to enter the safes, according to Walters’ statement.
Walters told detectives that when they saw someone watching them they fled the area, leaving one of the safes behind.
During the investigation, Walters told detectives that after Samuel passed a police officer on Washington Street Samuel “took off” and was “going fast as hell, running stop signs,” according to the criminal complaint. Walters claimed at one point he opened the back door to attempt to get out and that he and at least one other passenger told Samuel to stop.