Credit: Tom Sofield/NewtownPANow.com
A Levittown man has been charged after police said he struck two pedestrians in a crosswalk and left the scene of the crash near Tyler State Park.
Newtown Township police were called at 5:03 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 21, to the area of Richboro Road and West Hanover Street for a report of a serious crash involving a vehicle and two pedestrians. The Newtown Emergency Medical Services and Newtown Fire Rescue responded for reports of multiple injuries.
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The striking vehicle was described as a white sedan with a newer-style Pennsylvania license plate and a missing right front hubcap. Dispatchers relayed reports that the driver had left the scene, police said.
Officers arrived and found two injured women with visible injuries. A third woman who had been walking with them was not struck.
The uninjured woman told police the three were walking on West Hanover Street and attempting to cross Richboro Road into Tyler State Park. She said they were about halfway through the crosswalk when they were struck by a white sedan, according to court papers.
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Citing witness accounts, Police said the sedan had been stopped at the stop sign at the exit of Tyler State Park before turning left onto Richboro Road.
The two injured women were taken by ambulance to St. Mary Medical Center in Middletown Township for treatment.
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One woman suffered a broken knee, along with lacerations and bruising, while the other suffered lacerations and bruising, according to police.
A Newtown Township police detective later photographed the women’s injuries and spoke with witnesses.
Police said witnesses reported that the sedan stopped at the Tyler State Park exit before turning left and striking two of the three pedestrians.
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Witnesses told investigators the driver exited the vehicle and said, “Oh my God,” before getting back into the driver’s seat and leaving toward West Hanover Street, according to police.
Two witnesses provided investigators with video from an in-car camera system, and police said the video confirmed the accounts and showed a white Hyundai Elantra with a Pennsylvania license plate.
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The plate was registered to an address in the Levittown section of Falls Township, court papers stated.
Investigators said they determined the vehicle’s owner had a suspended Pennsylvania driver’s license.
The driver’s license photographs and the crash video identified the driver as Dustin James Kind, 37, of the Levittown section of Falls Township, according to court records filed this week.
At 9:32 p.m. on Aug. 21, Falls Township police told Newtown Township police that Kind’s vehicle was parked at his home on Edgewood Lane in Levittown.
Newtown Township and Falls Township police officers arrived at the home at 10:13 p.m. and found the vehicle unoccupied in the driveway, authorities said.
Police reported the car had damage to the front bumper and hood that was consistent with impact damage from the crash. The right front hubcap was also missing.
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Law enforcement officials made contact with Kind, who told investigators he had been driving from Tyler State Park and thought the pedestrians had waved him on. He said he became scared after striking the pedestrians. Kind also acknowledged that his driver’s license was suspended at the time, according to police.
Kind was taken into custody Wednesday morning by Newtown Township police.
The 37-year-old man was charged with two counts of accidents involving personal injury and one count of accident involving injury while not licensed. He also faces single counts of driving while operating privileges are revoked or suspended, careless driving and failure to yield the right of way to pedestrians.
Kind was preliminarily arraigned before District Judge Mick Petrucci and held at the Bucks County Correctional Facility on 10 percent of $150,000 bail.
According to court records, Kind has previously been stopped by Falls and Newtown townships’ officers for driving while his operating privileges are suspended or revoked.
Kind, per court records, is on probation after pleading guilty last fall to making a false report, giving false information, and careless driving for an incident out of Falls Township.
Editor’s Note: All individuals arrested or charged with a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty. The story was compiled using information from police and public court documents.