Man faces DUI charges in fatal crash in Eddystone
EDDYSTONE >> A 38-year-old Chester man was preliminarily arraigned Thursday on felony charges of vehicle homicide while under the influence and multiple related offenses involving the death of a 46-year-old Philadelphia man in October.
Ronald Williams Lundy’s blood-alcohol content was 0.177, more than twice the legal 0.08 legal driving limit, and his blood also contained marijuana, shortly after the crash that claimed the life of Ruet Pen, according to the affidavit of probable cause for Lundy’s arrest.
Lundy, who suffered a broken hip and pelvis in the Oct. 26 crash on the Industrial Highway, was in a wheelchair when he arrived at police headquarters to surrender on the criminal complaint. He was later joined by his defense attorney, Michael Kotik, at district court.
In addition to homicide by vehicle while DUI, Lundy, of Chester but who was residing in Folcroft at the time of the crash, is charged with homicide by vehicle, DUI, reckless endangerment, speeding, driving without a license and registration, reckless driving, careless driving, driving over a divider and failing to keep to the right lane.
Magisterial District Judge Philip S. Turner set Lundy’s bail at 10 percent of $250,000 bail, which the defendant failed to post. Lundy was remanded to the county prison. A preliminary hearing is listed for Dec. 17, according to online court records.
According to the affidavit, authored by Lt. Joseph Pretti, police were dispatched to the two-vehicle, head-on crash in the area of
1000 Industrial Highway in Eddystone on Oct. 25, shortly before
1 a.m. Both vehicles, a GMC Envoy operated by Lundy and a Toyota Sienna operated by Pen, were in the westbound lanes of the roadway, a four-lane divided highway – where there is a raised median, a few inches in height.
Pen, who was slumped over the steering wheel, was breathing but unresponsive. He was extricated from the vehicle and transported by ambulance to Crozer-Chester Medical Center, where he died at
2:10 a.m. His death was the result of multiple blunt force injuries, according to the Delaware County Medical Examiner’s Office.
At the scene, Lundy was on the ground about 3 feet from the driver’s side of the Envoy, complaining of severe pain on the right side of his body. He told police at the scene that he had just left Harrah’s casino - but later said he was on his way to work in New Jersey at the time of the accident. Not only did police notice he was slurring his words, but they also detected a strong odor of alcohol coming from his body, the affidavit states. Lundy, too, was taken to Crozer.
Police obtained video as well as witness statements that the GMC was traveling eastbound in the westbound lanes prior to the crash. Additionally, based on crash data and post-crash mechanical inspections, one second prior to impact the Envoy was traveling at 57 mph and the Sienna was traveling at 31 mph, according to the affidavit. The Industrial Highway has a 35 mph speed limit in the area of the crash. Neither driver was wearing a seatbelt.
At the time of the crash, Lundy’s driver’s license was suspended due to a DUI-related incident, and he had no valid insurance, according to the affidavit. The vehicle he was driving, which was registered to another individual, had the wrong license plate on it.
As part of the investigation, a warrant was sought for Lundy’s medical records, as well as for the blood that was drawn when he first arrived in the emergency room. Police on Nov. 20 received the results of the blood sent to Drug Scan for analysis blood.
In addition to his 0.177 blood alcohol content, 6 nanograms of
Delta-9-tetrahydrocannibinol or THC, a marijuana component, and 62 nanograms of 9-CarboxyTHC, a marijuana metabolite, were detected in Lundy’s blood, the affidavit states.
An attempt to reach Kotik for comment after business hours Thursday was unsuccessful.