UPDATED: Mackenzie Stanley, 23, of Penndel, has been charged with DUI, endangering the welfare of children, careless driving, and additional related offenses in connection with this incident.
Original Story:
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A woman was taken into custody after a crash in a Levittown residential section.
During a Friday morning interview, Christian Gallardo said a minivan driven by the suspected intoxicated woman struck his newer Dodge Durango at Forsythia Drive South and Flamingo Road in Levittown, causing both vehicles to end up in the yards nearby homes.
The crash happened Thursday around 5:30 p.m.
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Dash camera video provided to LevittownNow.com by Gallardo shows the older-model minivan driving fast and beginning to run off the road on the bend along Forsythia Drive South by the Samuel Everitt School.
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Police confirmed the authenticity of the video, adding the woman behind the wheel of the minivan was suspected of DUI. She was detained, but court records do not show charges yet being filed.
Gallardo said he saw the minivan and thought he would be able to safely turn, but he did not account for the driver’s speed, which he said had to be way over the speed limit.
“She was losing control before she hit me,” he said. “She was up on the grass and just missed the light pole before hitting me.”
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As the minivan made its way toward the school, Levittown resident Kerry Taggart said she was driving and the minivan nearly struck her car on Forsythia Drive South.
“I thought it was a medical emergency of some sort,” she told LevittownNow.com. “I followed and saw her hit a car in a driveway and hit a bush. She jumped out, opened up the sliding back door, threw two little girls out, and was screaming that she had a baby.”
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Gallardo said he comforted one of the young girls who was crying, while a bystander found a baby in the minivan.
“She smelled of alcohol,” Taggart said of the minivan driver. “We were asking her name and she kept screaming … ‘I’m not going to jail.’”
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As neighbors crowded around, police officers showed up ended up eventually taking the woman into custody.
Gallardo and Taggart said a man showed up shortly after and was yelling. He ended up being detained by police and released.
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After posting the video to Facebook, Gallardo said he heard from others who saw the minivan before the crash, including two people who said she almost hit them.
“I honestly feel like if she didn’t hit me she would’ve hit the house and killed her children. Or missed the house and killed the others … I’m more than happy no one was hurt. It could’ve been catastrophic,” he said.
