A 30-year-old woman is accused of being under the influence when she allegedly crashed into another car, causing the other vehicle to break through a fence and into a front yard, killing a passenger.
Philadelphia police charged Agness Lawless with homicide by vehicle, DUI, aggravated assault by vehicle and related counts in the Dec. 13 crash at Disston Street and Torresdale Avenue in the Tacony neighborhood that left a 33-year-old man in the other car dead and two other people in that car hurt.
Surveillance video captured a man and a woman walking away from the scene.
The video also shows a 2003 Toyota Corolla blowing past a stop sign and slamming into a 1999 Toyota Corolla, sending it spinning and crashing through the white picket fence of a home on the northeast corner. The 2003 Corolla then struck a parked RAM 1500 van.
A 31-year-old man, 27-year-old woman and 33-year-old man were all inside the 1999 Corolla while a man and woman were inside the 2003 Corolla. The crash caused the 33-year-old man, who was a backseat passenger, to be ejected about 30 feet from the older model Corolla onto the front yard of the home. He died a short time later at the hospital. The others were treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
Witnesses say they called 911 and tried to comfort the injured. They then saw a man who was also in the newer model Corolla walking across the street to lie down. He then went back to the striking vehicle and talked to the woman who was still inside.
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“She just kept saying, ‘Get my son’s book bag. Get my son’s book bag.’ Like they really were eager to get this book bag,” witness Iris Cintron said.
Witnesses say the woman was bleeding on the left side of her face and she appeared to be dazed.
“The gentleman that was with her kept pressuring her to leave the scene,” Cintron said. “The young lady wasn’t even all there. Because she had a head injury.”
An arrest photo released by Philadelphia Police shows Lawless with a bandage on her head.
One person appears to have a backpack on as surveillance video shows two people walking away from the scene.
“They left a lot of evidence," witness Michelle Torres said. “A lot of DNA all over the place. They got them on camera.”
Investigators found the woman who left the scene of the crash at the hospital about seven hours later, police said.
“It’s heartless for a person just to run,” Torres said. “Not even to check the people who got hurt to see if they were OK.”
Lawless was being held Friday on $250,000 bail. Court records don't list an attorney who could comment on her behalf.
No word if her passenger could face charges.
