DUI Homicide Charges Filed in Sidewalk Death of Neumann U. Freshman
By Brad Segall
CLIFTON HEIGHTS, Pa. (CBS) -- Authorities in Delaware County have now filed charges in connection with a deadly crash in Clifton Heights last month that killed a popular teenager and seriously injured his friend.
A 45-year-old Lansdowne man is now behind bars, facing vehicular homicide DUI and related charges in connection with the January 12th crash on Baltimore Pike. That crash killed 18-year-old Dante DeSimone and critically injured another man (see related story).
Delaware County district attorney Jack Whelan says further testing showed that Jonathan Vanderhorst had significant amounts of drugs in his system which, according to Whelan, made him a danger behind the wheel.
"And when he turned left in front of the Ford 250, causing this accident, it was a result -- a direct result -- of the marijuana ingested," Whelan said today.
Whelan says Vanderhorst's intoxicated condition made him incapable of recognizing the truck traveling westbound on Baltimore Pike.
He collided with the pickup, and that vehicle hit the two pedestrians. Homicide-by-vehicle DUI carries a mandatory minimum of three years behind bars.
