Woman sent to prison for fatal crash

COURTHOUSE » A Pennsburg woman was sent to state prison on charges of vehicular homicide in connection with the death of a Pottstown motorcyclist.

Abigail Katherine Ruppert, 24, who listed addresses in the 100 block of Fourth Street and in the 700 block of Seminary Street, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court on Tuesday to one to two years in a state correctional facility, to be followed by four years’ probation, in connection with a 12:25 a.m. Oct. 7, 2015, three-vehicle crash along Layfield Road in Upper Hanover that claimed the life of motorcyclist Jonathan Aaron Olszta, 50, of Pottstown.

The sentence, imposed by Judge Garrett D. Page, means Ruppert will be under court supervision for about six years. In sending Ruppert to state prison, the judge said he could not ignore that Ruppert had two other arrests, for unauthorized use of a vehicle and possession of drug paraphernalia, which occurred after the fatal crash.

“There was no wake-up call,” Page said.

During a nonjury trial in August, the judge convicted Ruppert of charges of homicide by vehicle, recklessly endangering another person and summary offenses of failure to keep right and reckless driving in connection with the crash.

Jessie Evans, Olszta’s niece, choked back tears as she expressed her family’s grief about the death of the man she described as “my best friend, my rock, my uncle, my father.”

“He raised me. He was like my father. He was always there. He helped me raise my son. Nothing’s ever been the same since,” Evans tearfully addressed the judge. “There’s days I wish I could just give him a great big hug.”

In letters to the judge, other relatives said Olszta “was always nice, kind and always laughing.”

Before learning her fate, Ruppert, the mother of a 4-year-old boy, apologized to Olszta’s family.

“There is not a day that has gone by that I have not thought about what happened. I’m terribly sorry for everything,” said Ruppert, who was supported in court by her mother.

Assistant District Attorney Alec O’Neill argued for a state prison sentence against Ruppert, emphasizing Ruppert’s actions directly caused the death of Olszta.

In detailing Ruppert’s recklessness, court papers stated she had traces of the substance known as morphine-free in her system and had slept only four of the previous 24 hours.

Authorities described morphine-free as an “opiate narcotic analgesic commonly found as a metabolite or breakdown product of codeine and heroin,” according to court papers.

Testimony revealed Ruppert battled a heroin addiction, Authorities did not charge Ruppert with a more serious charge of homicide by vehicle while under the influence of a controlled substance because the levels of morphine-free detected were not sufficient to support such a charge.

“But this is a case where the specter of addiction looms large,” O’Neill added. “This is a crime that deals with the most severe emotional impact that you can have.”

With the homicide by vehicle charge, authorities alleged Ruppert “recklessly or with gross negligence” caused the death of another person by violating traffic laws including failure to keep right and disregarding traffic lane or by careless or reckless driving.

Defense lawyer Pietro D’Angelo argued for a county jail sentence for Ruppert and said she is remorseful.

“This is a tragedy on so many levels. Abigail is trying to accept responsibility for what she did. This was not an intentional act,” D’Angelo argued to the judge.

Court documents filed months after the crash in connection with a bail motion indicated Ruppert had been in a methadone clinic program under a doctor’s care at some point.

Prosecutors alleged Ruppert was driving a Pontiac minivan southbound on Layfield Road, near Kings Road, in Upper Hanover when she crossed a double yellow line and struck the driver’s side of PHILADELPHIA » a northbound Mitsubishi Lancer, operated by Cassandra Rambo, age and address unavailable, and then continued in the opposing lane of travel and struck a northbound Harley-Davidson motorcycle operated by Olszta.

Olszta was pronounced dead at the scene by officials of the county coroner’s office, according to the criminal complaint filed by state police at Skippack. Medical examiners said Olszta died as a result of a tear in the aorta causing hemorrhaging in his chest cavity and that he also suffered lacerations to his spleen and liver.

Rambo and Ruppert suffered minor injuries and were transported to Lehigh Valley Hospital for treatment, court papers indicate.

Ruppert allegedly told police she did not remember much about the crash. In court papers troopers described Ruppert has appearing sleepy and sluggish.

“The only recollection Ruppert had of the crash was seeing headlights followed by two loud ‘smashes,’” state police Trooper Mark Musser alleged in the criminal complaint.

Rambo told police she saw headlights traveling toward her vehicle in her lane of travel and “didn’t have anywhere to go and then was spinning,” according to the arrest affidavit.