Driver won’t face felony charge

By Sara Ganim

BELLEFONTE — Prosecutors Wednesday withdrew the only felony charge a Port Matilda man faced after police accused him of driving drunk and knocking down a pedestrian with his car as the man tried to get his license plate number after a rear-end crash.

In a criminal complaint, police say Jerry A. Stimer, 62, of 608 S. High St., fled the scene of the April 4 crash after putting his 1987 Ford Bronco II into reverse and pushing the driver of the vehicle he’d rear-ended, 17-year-old Budd Henry, backward with his vehicle.

Henry’s mother, Shelly Henry, moved from the passenger’s seat to the driver’s seat and followed Stimer to a home on Peppermint Lane, where she blocked his car in the driveway and waited for police, a criminal complaint says.

But Stimer’s attorney, Phil Masorti, and District Attorney Michael Madeira both agreed that there wasn’t enough evidence to prove Budd Henry suffered serious bodily injury in the crash.

That’s an element needed for aggravated assault by vehicle while DUI, so Madeira withdrew that charge and replaced it with two counts of misdemeanor recklessly endangering another person — one for the teen and another for his mother.

“A reasonable defense attorney gets together with a reasonable prosecutor and discusses the case and came to what we thought was the appropriate resolution,” Masorti said.

Budd Henry was in a neck brace Wednesday in court for Stimer’s preliminary hearing, but Madeira said the family understands the case’s difficulties.

“Proving the serious bodily injury element was questionable based on the evidence we had available to us today,” Madeira said. “I spent 45 minutes discussing the case, the evidence and what I thought was best for the case with them. They just don’t want him to get away with anything, but yes, they understood the discussion and what I thought was best for the case.”

Stimer waived his right to a hearing Wednesday after the felony was withdrawn. Masorti said he disputes that Stimer ever backed into Henry after Henry left his car, and said the initial rear-end crash was “slight, and the injuries were negligible.”

“There was no serious bodily injury,” Masorti said. “Well, I mean, we have no idea why he’d be wearing a brace.”

Police said Stimer’s vehicle rear-ended Henry’s vehicle after Henry turned onto Ardery Hollow Road from state Route 3040. Henry got out of his vehicle and was trying to get Stimer’s license plate number when, police wrote in a complaint, Stimer “put his vehicle into reverse and pushed the victim backwards.”

Stimer was later found to have a blood alcohol level of .166, after the crash, police wrote. He also faces misdemeanor simple assault and other charges relating to fleeing the scene and driving drunk.

“My client was behind the wheel drunk, and he shouldn’t have been,” Masorti said. “He’s going to take responsibility for that. But he didn’t cause serious bodily injury, no way.”

As for the injury claims, Masorti says the boy’s family has already hired a personal injury attorney, and the insurance companies can hash that out.

“We have eyewitnesses at the scene who said that he (Henry) fell to the ground when police showed up,” Masorti said. “It’s very strange that they’ve already hired a personal injury lawyer.”

The family, through a spokesman, declined to comment, saying their civil attorney advised them not to at this time.

Sara Ganim can be reached at 231-4616.