Credit: Tyler Jardine
Credit: Tyler Jardine
The debris and vehicle fluids that littered East Lincoln Highway near the entrance to the Oxford Valley Road in Middletown on the evening of December 10, 2014 are long gone, but the injuries to one of the victims will last a lifetime.
Authorities said a visibly drunk Jamie Pietzsch, 34, of Philadelphia, was driving her VW Jetta at a high rate of speed around 8:30 p.m. when she caused the three-car crash that left a 67-year-old grandmother from Langhorne seriously injured and permanently disabled.
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On Tuesday, Pietzsch was sentenced by Judge Wallace Bateman to 15 to 30 months in state prison. She was also ordered to pay over $2,000 in restitution and $1,000 in fees, according to the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office.
Pietzsch pleaded guilty to aggravated assault by vehicle while DUI in the fall.
According to court papers, Pietzsch had a blood alcohol level of .276 percent at the time of the crash. She also reportedly had THC in her blood from smoking marijuana
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A police investigation determined the blue VW Jetta driven by Pietzsch rear-ended a silver Toyota Camry driven by the grandmother, Julia Mielcarz, in the westbound travel lanes of Lincoln Highway. The Camry was then pushed into the eastbound lanes, striking a green Mercury.
From the district attorney’s office:
Mielcarz continues to suffer from memory loss, debilitating injuries, and loss of balance despite nearly six months of hospitalization, rehabilitation and assisted-living care. A former professional baker, she no longer can drive, walk unassisted, hold her grandchildren or make the cookies and pastries for which she was renowned in the Polish-American community.
“I do not recall anything from the accident; however, what has changed is my life,” Mielcarz, speaking through an interpreter, told Bucks County Judge Wallace H. Bateman Jr. “I’m trying to come back to the life I had before.”
Mielcarz’s daughter, Marta Johnson, told Bateman that her mother seems 15 years older than the spry, vibrant woman she had been before the collision, and “is permanently on house arrest” because of her dependence on others to get around.
Pietzsch told Bateman that her behavior was “completely inexcusable” and “something that I’m going to carry with me for the rest of my life.” She said she stopped drinking 13 months ago, has been attending regular AA meetings and counseling sessions, and would like to go back to college to become a drug and alcohol counselor.
Bateman, however, said he did not believe that a defense request for a county prison sentence and house arrest was appropriate under the circumstances. He also cast doubt on Pietzsch’s claim that her high level of intoxication had come from just four drinks. “I think we’re all owed a little more explanation for what happened,” the judge said.
