Woman jailed for DUI crash

NORRISTOWN >> As she apologized and wept uncontrollably in court, a Lower Frederick woman learned she’s headed to jail for driving drunk and striking a Schwenksville boy riding his bicycle in the township and then fleeing the scene.

“It is an extremely serious offense. This was a young boy, 15 years old, simply riding his bike. She hit him. She left him on the road,” Montgomery County Judge William R. Carpenter said on Friday as he sentenced Leeann Marie Burnett to 11½-to-23-months in the county jail.

“She acted with no excuse and no justification,” Carpenter added, turning down a defense request for probation. “A sentence of probation is not appropriate under the circumstances.”

Burnett, 47, of the 1500 block of North Gravel Pike, sobbed as she apologized to the boy’s parents, who were in the courtroom.

“I wish I could take it back, but I can’t. I’m so sorry. I just want this young man…to be happy and healthy,” Burnett, her body trembling at times, told the judge. “I don’t remember much of the incident.”

Carpenter also ordered

Burnett to complete five years’ probation following parole and 50 hours of community service.

Burnett pleaded guilty to a felony charge of aggravated assault by a vehicle while driving under the influence of alcohol in connection with the 12:17 p.m. Aug. 20, 2018, hit-and-run along Gravel Pike, or Route 29, between Game Farm Road and Woodland Avenue in Lower Frederick.

Authorities alleged Burnett had a blood-alcohol content of 0.108 percent, which is above the legal limit of 0.08 percent. Testimony revealed that Burnett told investigators she also had ingested synthetic marijuana, or K2, shortly before the crash.

“She should have been

able to foresee the lifechanging injuries she caused the young boy,” said Assistant District Attorney Scott Frame, arguing Burnett ignored her condition and the danger it posed and got behind the wheel of a vehicle. “A jail sentence is appropriate because it sends the message that…if you hurt somebody while getting being the wheel of a car after imbibing substances or alcohol that there’s going to be punishment.”

The Schwenksville boy was transported by medical helicopter to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia where he was treated for a concussion and a fractured leg, according to testimony.

The boy’s parents testified on Friday that he has struggled emotionally since

the crash and has flashbacks about the incident. Once an athletic teenager who played basketball, the boy has had to endure physical therapy, testimony revealed.

“Since Aug. 20, 2018, I have never been the same,” the boy wrote in a letter that was read in court by his mother. “I was lucky to be alive.”

Defense lawyer Thomas C. Rentschler argued for a probationary sentence on behalf of Burnett, pointing out she had no prior criminal record and sought inpatient and outpatient treatment for mental health and addiction issues after the crash.

“She’s embraced treatment and is committed to changing her life. She is truly remorseful and regretful for her actions that

day,” Rentschler argued, suggesting the public is best protected if Burnett is permitted to continue her treatment and not be incarcerated. “But for the addiction this would not have happened.”

The investigation began when state police at Skippack responded to the scene of the crash.

A witness told police he observed a black Kia Soul vehicle traveling northbound on Route 29 strike a guardrail several times and then strike the bicyclist who was traveling south on the northbound shoulder, according to the criminal complaint filed by state police Trooper Richard Sanzick. The witness said the driver of the Kia left the scene of the collision and

the witness stopped to assist the victim and call 911, according to court documents.

Armed with a description of the striking vehicle, police subsequently located Burnett near her home and conducted a traffic stop. Police observed Burnett “to have incoherent, slow and stuttering speech” and detected an odor of alcohol emanating from Burnett, according to the criminal complaint.

Burnett told police prior to driving she had consumed alcohol at her residence and then met a friend in Schwenksville.

“Burnett explained that she did not recall the crash, only the police contacting her in her driveway,” Sanzick alleged.