WILLIAMSPORT- Despite uncertainty over who put the car in reverse, a Williamsport mother has been held for court on charges she was under the influence of drugs and alcohol when her car dragged her 14-year-old daughter approximately 40 feet.
Vanessa Lynn Weaver, 40, is accused of putting her car in reverse about 7:30 p.m. on May 7 on Packer Street. while her daughter, 14-year-old Aubrey Moon, was standing next to the open driver’s side door.
But, city Officer Andrew Stevens testified Thursday during a preliminary hearing that a 15-year-old girl was sitting on Weaver’s lap when the car suddenly flew backward.
The 15-year-old girl claimed she was trying to adjust the seat so she could reach the pedals and grabbed the steering wheel when the car started moving. She fell out, injuring her ankle.
Assistant Public Defender Matthew B. Welickovitch unsuccessfully argued for dismissal of most of the charges claiming there is no proof Weaver put the car in reverse.
District Judge Aaron S. Biichle rejected the argument and held Weaver for court on all charges that included aggravated assault by vehicle while under the influence.
Moon, the 14-year-old, was giving instructions to the 15-year-old on how to parallel park when the car lurched backward, climbed the curb, grazed a pole, and stopped on Washington Board with one of the tires down to the rim, Stevens testified.
Moon suffered a skull fracture, brain hemorrhage, and other injuries, and was in a coma at Geisinger Medical Center near Danville for more than week. She is now in rehab, according to reports.
Stevens gave this account of what happened based mostly on interviews with the 15-year-old:
Weaver had driven her daughter and the 15-year-old to a fast-food restaurant, and was drinking beer on the way and at some point backed into a utility pole.
They went to a different part of the city where it is believed that Weaver bought Phencyclidine (PCP) before driving to a store.
Weaver began smoking a cigarette dipped in PCP but stopped at the urging of Moon and placed it in the driver side door pocket when it was recovered.
Weaver’s driving was erratic and she began seizing up. When she parked the car on Packer Street, around the corner from her Washington Boulevard home, the front end extended into the northbound driving lane. Moon went into the house for help getting her mother out of the car. It is when that failed the 15-year-old got into driver’s side in an attempt to park the car correctly with Moon giving her directions.
Stevens testified Weaver did not respond to his verbal commands or his effort to get her out of the car. He lifted her out and another officer took the car out of reverse and turned off the ignition, he said.
The officer described the various drug tests Weaver was unable to complete at police headquarters and said there was an odor of PCP on her clothes and in the car.
A search warrant had to be obtained to draw blood and the results showed the presence of PCP and alcohol, he said.
Weaver admitted she had smoked PCP and drank beer, Stevens testified.
Other charges against her are aggravated assault by vehicle, endangering the welfare of children, recklessly endangering, simple assault, driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, possession of PCP, possession of drug paraphernalia and three Vehicle Code Violations.
Weaver is in the Lycoming County Prison in lieu of $250,000 bail and on a probation violation detainer. She was on probation in a shoplifting case when the incident occurred.
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