Note: The following is based on a news release from the Office of the Bucks County District Attorney.
A Kintnersville, Bucks County man was charged Tuesday with killing a 67-year-old Bethlehem woman and severely injuring her 6-year-old grandson after allegedly running a red light July 31 in Plumsteadville.
Thomas J. Everitt, 38, of the 200 block of Church Hill Road, Nockamixon Township, was arraigned before Magisterial District Judge Gary Gambardella on charges of homicide by vehicle (a third-degree felony), aggravated assault by vehicle (a third-degree felony), recklessly endangering another person, reckless driving, failing to stop for a red light and driving at an unsafe speed.
He was released on $100,000 unsecured bail and is scheduled for a preliminary hearing Aug. 30 before Gambardella.
According to a probable cause affidavit, at approximately 10:37 a.m. Everitt was traveling north at 50 miles per hour and talking on his cell phone when he drove his 2015 Dodge Ram 4500 dump truck through a traffic light at Rt. 611 and Old Easton Road that had been red for at least 11 seconds.
“Thomas J. Everitt covered at least 797 feet while facing a steady red light, prior to entering the intersection” in the 5600 block of Rt. 611, it states.
The affidavit says the truck collided with a 2014 Dodge Caravan, driven by Laura Oswald of Bethlehem, that was turning left from southbound Rt. 611 onto Old Easton Road. The van, struck broadside, was pushed off the road, over a curb and into a utility pole, the affidavit states.
The impact killed Oswald’s mother, Jeanette Campbell, who was trapped in the van and pronounced dead at the scene.
Severely injured was Oswald’s six-year-old son, who was knocked unconscious and suffered skull and jaw fractures, the affidavit says. He was taken to Abington Hospital and later transferred to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia for treatment.
Two other children in the van, ages 3 and 8, were taken by ambulance to Abington Hospital, where they were treated for minor injuries and released. Everitt and his eight-year-old son were treated at Doylestown Hospital for injuries and released.
Video from a nearby surveillance camera shows that the van had come to a complete stop at the traffic signal, and a witness told police the van had a green left-turn signal when it began making the turn from 611 onto Old Easton Road, the affidavit says.
Crash investigators determined that Everitt did not brake until less than a half-second before impact, according to the affidavit.
Interviewed at the Doylestown Hospital emergency room, Everitt told investigators he was “almost positive my light was green” before the crash and felt as if he “stood on the brakes” to avoid the collision, the affidavit says.
Everitt told police he believes he was listening to music on his phone prior to the crash, but a forensic examination of his phone showed he was talking with an employee, the affidavit says.
The crash was investigated by the Plumstead Township Police Department, the Bucks County Detectives and the Bucks County District Attorney’s Crash Investigation Team.
The case has been assigned for prosecution to Deputy District Attorney Robert D. James, Chief of the Homicide by Vehicle Division.
