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Man Charged in Horsham Pedestrian Death

The Abington man faces DUI, vehicular homicides charges stemming from the Jan. 27 crash that killed Sharon Minnick of Pottstown.

 

A 29-year-old Abington man is facing charges of vehicular homicide and DUI in connection with the death of a 50-year-old Horsham woman.

Donald Dinkins III of Penn Avenue in the Glenside section of the township, on Wednesday morning waived his preliminary hearing before District Judge Harry J. Nesbitt

Dinkins is scheduled to be arraigned in the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas on June 6 in connection with a Jan. 27 crash that claimed the life of pedestrian Sharon Ann Minnick, of Maple Avenue in Horsham, formerly of Pottstown. 

Speed and marijuana are thought to be contributing factors to the Easton Road crash, and subsequently, Minnick's death.

"Based upon the post-impact roadway evidence left by the Dinkins vehicle, Detective (Robert) Turner determined that the minimum speed of the Dinkins vehicle was 59 miles per hour," according to an excerpt in the six-page affidavit of probable cause. "Detective Turner also determined that if the Dinkins vehicle had been proceeding at or near the posted speed limit of 45 miles per hour that Ms. Minnick could have completely crossed the roadway without being struck."

Police maintain that Minnick was 18 inches shy of completely crossing the heavily traveled four-lane roadway. 

Authorities have said they could not determine why Minnick was attempting to cross busy Easton Road at night, while wearing dark-colored clothing at the time of the crash, which occurred at 8:38 p.m. in the area of Girard Avenue.

According to court documents, the right front headlight of Dinkins' 1994 Lincoln Town Car struck Minnick's right leg and thigh. 

"Ms. Minnick was propelled onto the hood and then into the windshield area," according to the affidavit. "Ms. Minnick impacted the windshield with such force that the windshield smashed and split open."

Based on 140 feet and eight inches of post-impact skid marks, Dinkins applied "hard braking" at this point and steered to the left, which caused Minnick to be ejected from the passenger side of the car onto the southbound berm of the roadway.

She was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash.

Dinkins is being held in the Montgomery County Correctional Facility on $25,000 bail. 

The crash which took Minnick's life occurred less than two blocks from Jefferson Avenue, the scene of a deadly incident in November. In that case, a 45-year-old man was attempting to cross Easton Road when he was struck by a vehicle. 

Since then, Horsham officials have submitted a letter to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation requesting various measures to make the road safer

Related Topics: Girard avenue, Horsham, Route 611, Sharon Minnick, pedestrian death, and pottstown

Franz Perls

11:06 am on Wednesday, April 25, 2012

I would be willing to bet that this is not his first DUI. Why is there public registry for these murderers behind the wheel???

Reply

Love25

8:05 am on Monday, April 30, 2012

Hi Franz, there is a public registry to check if a person has a criminal record. You can seach court docket sheets for anyone. I checked for you, turns out he does not have any prior DUIs in PA. He does infact have some sort of harrassment/simple assault charge.

Reply

HarleyGirl04

6:28 pm on Monday, April 30, 2012

Franz....Check him out at Mugshots.com also.

Reply

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