Driver arrested for fatal crash
Joseph Bezanis facing charges for incident that killed elderly woman
The driver of a vehicle that went more than 500 feet across four yards before hurtling into a house and killing a woman sleeping in her bed never braked or steered, but did accelerate as the vehicle dug deeper into the soft lawns, investigators allege in court documents.
Joseph Bezanis, 21, of the 700 block of Harleysville Pike (Route 113) in Franconia, was charged April 23 with crimes including homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence, driving
under the influence of both alcohol and marijuana, reckless endangerment, trespassing by vehicle and driving at an unsafe speed.
The charges are in connection with the April 6 vehicle crash shortly after midnight that killed 86-year-old Marianne Lambert in the 300 block of Harleysville Pike.
Bezanis’ 1995 Toyota jumped the curve into a lawn, hit a trash can and mail box, then continued 539 feet across three more yards before hitting a raised section of lawn and going airborne for 21 feet into the side of the house, investigators said.
Analysis showed Bezanis’ speed was at least 83 miles per hour in the 40 mile per hour speed zone, investigators said.
The crash knocked out the house’s cinder block foundation and exterior wall, investigators said.
“All of the bedroom contents were pushed and crushed into a small section
of the room as the Toyota fully entered into the room,” Franconia Township Police Det. Sgt. George Moyer and Montgomery County Det. Robert Turner wrote in the affidavit of probable cause.
Lambert was sleeping in a bed with the headboard against the wall that was hit, the investigators said.
“The force of the impact drove the contents (including the bed) of the room across the room crushing them against the door and interior opposite side room wall. This is where Ms. Lambert was discovered after the crash,” the affidavit said.
Surveillance video at Cheers and Beers in Telford showed Bezanis had three draft beers and three shots there between 10:03 and 11:49 p.m. April 5, investigators said. He also left the bar for 11 minutes, investigators said.
Blood testing showed Bezanis had a 0.172 percent blood alcohol concentration along with the presence of
THC, the major active component of marijuana and cannabis, investigators said.
Bezanis was arraigned April 23 in Red Hill before Magisterial District Judge Maureen Coggins and released on $100,000 unsecured bail, the Montgomery County District Attorney’s office said. Other bail conditions include that Bezanis is not allowed to operate a vehicle and not permitted to have alcohol or controlled substances, the D.A.’s office said.
“The defendant’s decision to use marijuana as well as drink at a local bar turned deadly when he got behind the wheel of his vehicle and drove impaired,” Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele said in a statement. “The defendant turned his vehicle into a lethal weapon that killed a grandmother as she was sleeping in her bed. His actions have left a family without a matriarch and have forever affected their feelings of safety in their own home.”