Guilty plea in DUI crash case
Bucks man awaits fate for collision that injured two in Hatfield
NORRISTOWN » A Bucks County man is in jail awaiting his fate from a judge after he admitted to driving under the influence of drugs at the time of a head-on collision that seriously injured two people in another car in Hatfield Township.
Patrick Durell Kelly, 30, whose most recent address was in the 1700 block of South Easton Road in Doylestown, pleaded guilty in Montgomery County Court to charges of aggravated assault by a vehicle while driving under the influence of a controlled substance and DUI in connection with the 7 p.m. Jan. 31, 2017, twovehicle crash in the 1000 block of Bethlehem Pike in Hatfield.
Judge Wendy G. Rothstein deferred sentencing so that court officials can complete a background investigation report about Kelly. Rothstein ordered Kelly to be held in the county jail without bail pending his sentencing hearing later this year.
Kelly, who listed a previous address in the 300 block of Franklin Street, Quakertown, faces a possible maximum sentence of 12 ½ to 25 years in prison on the charges. However, state sentencing guidelines could allow for a lesser sentence.
Court documents alleged Kelly has two prior DUI convictions in 2010 and 2011.
The driver and a passenger in a 2010 Ford Fusion that was struck head-on by Kelly’s 2014 Honda Accord suffered serious injuries during the crash and were treated at area hospitals. The male driver suffered facial lacerations, a fractured nose and vertebrae in his back. The female passenger, who was ejected from the vehicle, suffered a fractured pelvis, shattered tailbone, shattered hip and broken hand and toes and underwent surgery, according the criminal complaint filed by Hatfield Police
Sergeant Jeffrey A. Boyd.
When police arrived at the scene of the crash they found the male victim trapped inside the Ford Fusion, which sustained “massive front-end damage,” according to the arrest affidavit. The female front seat passenger “had been
ejected from the vehicle and was found lying in the roadway visibly injured, along the passenger side of the Ford,” Boyd said.
Kelly’s Honda Accord was found resting on its roof having rolled after the collision. Kelly was able to crawl out of his vehicle under his own power and was later treated for minor injuries, police said.
Witnesses told police that Kelly’s Honda was traveling
northbound on Bethlehem Pike near the intersection with Hilltown Pike when the Honda crossed the center median and struck the victim’s Ford Fusion headon as it was in the southbound left turn lane.
When speaking with Kelly at the scene investigators observed he had pale skin, dilated pupils and slow speech, according to court papers. Police also noticed several glassine bags
on the ground near Kelly and also inside the Honda, as well as several hypodermic needles, court papers indicate. Such bags, police said, are often used to store illegal narcotics.
When police asked Kelly if he had used heroin Kelly allegedly stated he used “8 bags” about four hours before the crash, according to the criminal complaint. Kelly added he also takes prescription medications
such as oxycodone and Xanax.
When asked about the crash, Kelly told police that he “saw an opening, went to drive through it and hit the other car,” investigators alleged.
Other drivers traveling in the area at the time told police Kelly was driving erratically and speeding shortly before the crash. Police also obtained video surveillance from a business on Bethlehem Pike that captured the Honda traveling northbound at a high rate of speed and “vaulting” over the raised center concrete median into the southbound lanes, according to the arrest affidavit.
Kelly consented to a blood test and those tests revealed positive findings for cocaine and other controlled substances, according to the criminal complaint.