Credit: Bristol Township Police
A Bristol Borough man who fled after he slammed his truck into the house of a dying woman and disappeared into the night was sentenced Wednesday.
Ronald Simmons, 21, pleaded guilty to charges including DUI, reckless endangerment and criminal mischief. He was sentenced by a Bucks County judge to 30 days to six months in jail and three years probation. He will also have to perform 100 hours of community service and write a letter of apology to the victim’s family.
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Simmons told Bristol Township police he had smoked marijuana and was attempting to grab a water bottle that slipped under his brake pedal around 2:40 a.m. on December 26. His red pickup truck jumped the curb, traveled 99 feet and struck the corner of 67 Red Brook Lane in Levittown, where an ailing 93-year-old Jennie Russo was resting in her hospice bed, according to authorities.
Credit: Tom Sofield/LevittownNow.com
Jennie Russo’s son, Ron, was sleeping in a room over from his mother’s bedroom, when he heard the crash. He rushed into her room to see a dresser leaning against his mother’s hospice bed. He tended to her, scooped her up and moved her into another bedroom. Minutes later, firefighters from Levittown Fire Company No. 2 moved the hospital bed into the living room of her home, Ron Russo said.
A short time later, 58-pound Jennie Russo, a longtime resident of 67 Red Brook Lane, passed away.
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Assistant District Attorney Johnathan Long told LevittownNow.com the coroner ruled Jennie Russo did not die from the crash.
Credit: Tom Sofield/LevittownNow.com
A report from the Bucks County Coroner’s Office showed Jennie Russo died from “in-stage lung disease, pulmonary fibrosis,” police said. Russo suffered from the lung disease for years and was in the final stages of her life, her family told LevittownNow.com in December.
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About 12 hours after the crash, Bristol Borough police found the damaged pickup truck parked in the 500 block of Bath Street. The truck was towed to Bristol Township’s police lot.
After several months, blood test results were returned and showed Simmons had chemicals found in marijuana in his system, court papers filed by Officer Paul Aita stated.
Jason Rubinstein, Simmons’ defense attorney, said his client is an “extremely hard working man.” He added that the 21-year-old has great remorse over what happened and cooperated with police once they found his damaged vehicle.
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“The lesson to be learned: don’t leave the scene of an accident,” Rubinstein said.
