Woman charged in fatal accident

Renee Moore, 27, of Bensalem was charged with various motor vehicle offenses and drug possession following an accident Halloween that killed newlywed Gwen Taylor Alper, 49.

By: Linda Seida
   SOLEBURY — The survivor of a two-vehicle crash that killed a New Hope woman on Windy Bush Road last Halloween has been charged with various motor vehicle offenses and a drug possession charge stemming from the fatal accident.
   The most serious of the charges is a felony charge of having an accident involving death or personal injury while not properly licensed.
   Renee Moore, 27, of Gibson Road in Bensalem turned herself in to Solebury police on Feb. 12. She appeared before District Justice Robert Schnell where she was also charged with the misdemeanor of possession of marijuana.
   Police also charged Ms. Moore with eight traffic violations, among them driving a commercial vehicle such as the dump truck without a commercial driver’s license, or CDL, driving at an unsafe speed, careless driving and no medical card. A medical card would certify the driver of a commercial vehicle had passed a physical certifying he or she can handle the demands of a heavy weight vehicle.
   During the preliminary arraignment, District Justice Schnell set bail at $10,000. Ms. Moore was released on her own recognizance while awaiting trial, but if she fails to appear on the appointed date, she will owe the court $10,000. A preliminary hearing will be scheduled in two to three weeks before District Justice Schnell, according to Bucks County Assistant District Attorney Craig Penglase.
   The dump truck driven by Ms. Moore collided with a car driven by Gwen Taylor Alper, the 49-year-old newlywed from New Hope who died in the collision. The accident occurred at the intersection of Route 232, or Windy Bush Road, and Pidcock Creek Road. The truck came to rest upside down in a ditch while Ms. Alper’s vehicle, its front end mashed in, came to land in the front yard of Pat Yorks, a Solebury resident who has been lobbying township and PennDOT officials along with a number of her neighbors for increased safety measures on Route 232, a road they have been saying is dangerous, if not deadly, for at least three years.
   Solebury Police Chief Richard Mangan would not say how fast Ms. Moore was driving before the accident because the details of the crash are part of the investigation.
   A source close to the investigation said that although Ms. Moore had marijuana in her possession, she had not been smoking it before the crash.
   Ms. Moore’s attorney, Richard Fink, declined to comment on the charges or the arrest.
   "It’s just too early in the case," he said.
   His client is single and "a hard-working mother," Mr. Fink added. It was not known how may children she has.
   A felony charge was made, according to Mr. Penglase, "because here’s a person who got behind the wheel of a vehicle that she was not qualified to drive."
   Her employer will not be charged for allowing an unqualified driver to operate his dump truck because of a lack of evidence, Mr. Penglase said. The dump truck Ms. Moore was driving belonged to M.J. Connolly Paving, a contractor based in Feasterville, Pa., and owned by Mike Connolly.
   "The most he could be charged with is a summary offense. That’s the most the law allows," Mr. Penglase said.
   However, he did not rule out the possibility a civil lawsuit could be filed by the victim’s family.
   At the time of the accident, Ms. Alper and her husband recently had purchased a house. Neighbors of the crash site, as well as an official involved in the case, all asked he not be named or contacted. Even now, almost four months after the accident, they said the loss of his bride has left him "a mess."
   No one is saying who is leaving items by the side of the roadway at the scene of the accident. But on recent holidays, heartbreaking mementos have been seen. For Christmas, there were roses and a candle; for Valentine’s Day, a stuffed bear with a box of Godiva chocolates.
   Kerry Dubravski, a resident of Windy Bush Road who has lobbied Solebury Township officials and PennDOT for increased safety measures on Windy Bush Road, feels for both families involved in the accident.
   "I’m sad for this woman," she said of Ms. Moore when told of the charges. "I’m sad for the family" of Ms. Alper, she added. "It’s so disheartening that it has to come to this."
   Ms. Dubravski wanted to know how Ms. Moore had been driving the dump truck. She said drivers in the past have speeded along the 50 mph roadway in excess of 70 mph. She and other residents want to see the speed lowered to 35 mph.
   Solebury Township officials have turned to PennDOT for help with the state road. They are awaiting a report from the agency’s engineers, which should be available within several weeks. The report was necessary, both PennDOT and the township say, before any changes can be made to the road.
   The accident is "sad all the way around. The only way to make peace with it in my mind is to learn a lesson from it," Ms. Dubravski said.
   "It’s not a true accident. Somebody was accountable," she added. "The rules are there for a reason, so people don’t have to wonder why their parent or child or wife died."
   Just four days before Ms. Alper’s death, a retired Philadelphia police detective, 54-year-old John Szymczak, died on Windy Bush Road when his motorcycle and a car crashed.
   Then Friday, Solebury arrived at the scene of a two-vehicle traffic accident at Windy Bush Road and Aquetong Road around 12:20 p.m.
   This accident involved a Buick sedan traveling on Aquetong Road and an Isuzu Trooper traveling on Route 232. The Lambertville-New Hope Ambulance and Rescue Squad transported the operator of the Buick, Scott Reed of Trenton, to St. Mary’s Medical Center in Langhorne, Pa. The operator of the Isuzu, Rhonda Greenberg of Holland, Pa., was taken by private vehicle to the same hospital.
   Police say they still are conducting the investigation so no charges have yet been filed.