U. Darby driver held on $1 million bail

A tearful and apologetic Lansdowne woman was taken to the Delaware County jail yesterday, a day after she drove her car into three boys walking home from school in Upper Darby, hitting one so hard he was knocked out of his shoes.

Two of the boys remained in critical condition yesterday, one of them a 12-year-old who was on a respirator and in a medically induced coma.

Dawn Denise Snell, 42, of Hansell Road, was held with bail set at $1 million cash. She is charged with aggravated assault, simple assault, and a host of motor-vehicle counts including reckless driving and leaving the scene of an accident.

Snell was speeding east in her Dodge Charger on Marshall Road shortly after noon Tuesday when she lost control of the car and swerved toward a group of five boys, Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood said at a news conference yesterday morning at Upper Darby police headquarters.

She struck two boys, then hit a third as her car hurtled along the sidewalk before ramming a parked car and stopping 500 feet from the first impact, Chitwood said. The parked car was pushed 15 feet.

The injured boys, seventh graders at Beverly Hills Middle School, were Jemel Brunswick, 13; Philmon Beyene, 12; and Tyler Lowery, 12.

Brunswick and Beyene were in "extremely critical" condition, Chitwood said.

Both boys had surgery Tuesday night at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia to relieve pressure on their brains.

Brunswick was also suffering multiple facial fractures, pelvic injuries, and a serious wound to one of his lungs, Chitwood said.

Beyene, who remained in a medically induced coma and on a respirator, was being treated for a fractured skull, multiple pelvic fractures, and a lacerated pancreas. He also had surgery to save his right leg, Chitwood said.

Lowery was in stable condition, and has spoken to medical staff and detectives, Chitwood said.

He said Snell had told police that she was rushing to get her daughter to the 69th Street Terminal to catch a train to Norristown. Before the accident, she ran a red light at Long Lane and crossed into the oncoming lane to avoid a line of traffic, Chitwood said. That was when she hit the boys, who were heading home after an early release from school for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Chitwood said witnesses had indicated that Snell, who had borrowed the car from a relative, tried to flee.

"Every one of them said there was no doubt she was trying to get away," Chitwood said. "She probably stopped because she couldn't see after the impact on the car," which smashed the driver's side window and windshield.

The daughter, who spoke briefly with reporters before the news conference, said Snell had lost control of the car but hadn't been speeding and hadn't tried to leave. The daughter declined to give her name or age.

When asked what had happened after the car struck the boys, the daughter said Snell had "just started screaming."

Police did not find skid marks and have so far found no evidence of a mechanical problem with the car, Chitwood said. Police were awaiting toxicology results to determine if Snell had been impaired by drugs or alcohol at the time of the crash.

In addition to being cited for dozens of parking violations, court records show, Snell was found guilty in a 2003 summary trial of driving in Clifton Heights when her privileges were suspended or revoked.

Chitwood said Snell's actions Tuesday went beyond a simple accident.

"The tragedy of these three young men and the way they were hit, that was not, oh, haphazardly driving down the street," he said. "That was careless, reckless, criminal."

Asked about the high bail, Chitwood said, "You could have two dead young men before the weekend is over."