Note: The following story was written by the Office of the Bucks County District Attorney.
A 48-year-old motorist from Lansdale will spend the next four to eight years in state prison for seriously hurting a Quakertown man last summer in a head-on drunken-driving crash.
David Stanley McDevitt Jr.
David Stanley McDevitt Jr. was speeding and had a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .204 percent when his 2000 Chevrolet Suburban SUV smashed into a 1995 Volvo 940 sedan driven by Evan H. Kreisher of Quakertown.
The crash occurred around 9:30 p.m. on July 20, 2017 in the 1000 block of North Ridge Road in Perkasie. At the time, McDevitt was traveling 62 miles per hour in a 40 mph zone, according to an accident reconstruction report.
The report concluded that because of his intoxication, McDevitt crossed the center line of the two-lane road into the southbound lane and into the path of Kreisher’s oncoming vehicle.
The victim attempted to swerve out of the way, but was unable to avoid the impact, which pushed the Volvo’s engine compartment halfway into the passenger area. Rescue workers had to use the Jaws of Life to extract Kreisher from his car.
Kreisher, 22, at the time, suffered a fractured wrist and femur, both of which required surgery and extensive physical therapy. He wrote in a victim impact statement, read in court Tuesday by Deputy District Attorney Edward M. Louka, that he still has not fully recovered.
“The most lasting effects, however, have been mental. Only recently have I been able to drive and I still feel the panic and anger of that night,” Kreisher said in his statement, adding that he suffers nightmares, insomnia, anxiety, panic attacks and flashbacks, for which he receives therapy.
“The truth is, that night has been the longest night of my life. For me it still hasn’t ended,” his statement said. “I’ve lost a well-paying job at a liquor store and my autonomy as a young adult was stripped from me for close to a year, only now beginning to return.”
To McDevitt, Kreisher wrote: “Mr. McDevitt, in my mind if the night isn’t over for me, it’s only beginning for you. In some way I want to extend some sort of sympathy, maybe forgive you…”
“When you’ve paid your debt to society and you’re no longer the state’s responsibility, you’ll be a stranger to me. You won’t need my forgiveness, because you’ll owe me nothing that you don’t owe anyone else. If you live your life from that point onward honestly, respecting your fellow human beings and sincerely weighing the impact of your actions on them, you won’t even be the man who hurt me. There will be nothing to forgive. Who you do or don’t do it all for is your choice.”
McDevitt pleaded guilty to aggravated assault by vehicle while driving under the influence, driving under the influence and disregarding traffic lanes.
Common Pleas Court Judge Jeffrey G. Trauger accepted the plea and sentenced McDevitt to serve four to eight years for the aggravated assault charge and a concurrent 72 hours to six months and pay a $1,000 fine for the DUI. Trauger also ordered McDevitt to pay $4,951.35 in restitution to Kreisher.
The case was investigated by the Perkasie Borough Police Department and the District Attorney’s Crash Investigation Team.
