Glenside Man Charged in Pedestrian Death

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

Donald Dinkins III, of Penn Avenue, Glenside, waived his preliminary hearing before  Wednesday morning.

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. 

Speed, alcohol 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  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. 

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 .