For Paul Wright, his afternoon was a pleasant one, as he drove in his brand-new, two-week-old Genesis GV70 down Line Street in Lansdale Borough around 1:45 p.m.
Then, the one worst thing you do not want to happen to a new car, happened.
As he drove past East Third Street on Saturday, Wright, of Brookside Manor in Hatfield Township, knew the driver of a gray Mitsubishi Outlander SUV was not stopping at the stop sign.
“I was headed toward Main Street, and he comes out at Third Street and didn’t even stop. He just made the right,” he said. “As I’m driving, I said, ‘What the?!’ and he kept going, and he’s swerving. When he turned, I turned to avoid him and he swerved back into me – BOOM! I said, ‘Oh no.’ He hit a bunch of cars on Line Street too. Then, he turns up (East Second) Street, runs over the sign, and just stops.”
Meanwhile, Rob Donaghy was helping his teenage son, Eli, change a headlight outside of their East Second Street home. On their quiet cul-de-sac, things are usually serene.
Suddenly, they heard a loud scraping noise and an SUV speeding down his street, before it stopped about a foot away from the curb of the home at the end of the cul-de-sac.
“He came down the street at like, 40, 50 mph,” said Eli. “He was dragging the sign from the end of the street. It’s under his car.”
By Tony Di Domizio
Rob said he ran out, asking the driver why he was speeding when there are young children on the block.
“He was stumbling, he hit his head, and he was falling into his own car,” Eli said.
Rob told the driver to sit down and he asked him if he had his keys.
“He couldn’t find them. So, I went to get the keys out of his car, and then he grabbed my throat and started pushing me,” Rob said. “He gripped me up. I think he was drunk. I had to hold him down on the ground.”
By Tony Di Domizio
Then, Wright pulls up about a minute later. Rob said Wright called 911.
“He tried to choke the neighbor. I had to help hold him down,” Wright said. “He was trying to get away. There’s a lot of kids that are playing out here. He could’ve hurt someone.”
Lansdale Police said Tuesday that the accident remains under investigation. There were no injuries in the crash or road closures. The scene was cleared by 2:45 p.m., police said.
VMSC EMS transported the young driver of the Mitsubishi from the scene to an area hospital.
“Lansdale Police showed up not even a minute later. They were quick,” Rob said.
All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using public court records.
