CLEARFIELD – A Port Matilda man will be spending up to six years in state prison for an accident that took the life of a woman.
Leonard Dumin, 49, Port Matilda was charged with homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence after an accident in Irvona Borough on July 1, 2011. Tuesday in Clearfield County Court, Dumin who pleaded guilty, was sentenced by Judge Fredric J. Ammerman to three to six years in state prison. He was fined $2,070 plus costs. He must also pay restitution of over $5,200.
Prior to sentencing, the victim’s son addressed the court bringing home the seriousness of the charge.
“We lost our mother because of your actions,” he told Dumin. He explained that he held his son for 90 minutes last night while he cried because he is full of anger and sadness. The man admitted he is also filled with anger and sadness.
“I don’t know what to do. My mother’s gone,” he said adding that he has cried and cried about the situation.
“You tore a hole in my family. It will not be the same.”
Dumin turned to speak to the family, apologizing.
He stated how he wished he could change what happened and take away their pain.
“I think every day of what you must be going through. It’s hard for me to know I caused that. I’m forever sorry for what I did,” he said.
“I will try the rest of my life to make up for it.”
His attorney, Ralph Forr stated that after the accident Dumin immediately went into an alcohol treatment program and turned his life around. He now volunteers as a counselor to others in an effort to help them avoid his mistake.
Ammerman noted that he had to give Dumin credit for signing a plea agreement and not putting the victim’s family through a trial.
“That’s hard for someone who has never been in jail to step up and sign a plea for three to six years.”
According to the affidavit of probable cause, when police arrived on the scene the driver of one of the vehicles was deceased. The other driver, Dumin was being treated by emergency medical personnel.
When asked if he knew were he was going, Dumin replied that he was going home and didn’t know what happened. The officer could detect the odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from Dumin who was then transported from the scene to the Altoona Hospital for treatment. A blood test there revealed Dumin’s blood alcohol content to be 0.26 percent. The legal level of intoxication inPennsylvaniais 0.08 percent.
A witness who was traveling behind Dumin’s vehicle prior to the accident told police that the vehicle stopped twice as if the driver was confused. As she followed it, she said the vehicle was all over the roadway. When it went around a curve she lost sight of it but she rounded the curve to see it had crossed over the line, striking another vehicle head on. A second witness told police the same story.
An autopsy on the victim revealed the cause of death to be a neck fracture due to the vehicle collision. A passenger in the victim’s vehicle, who was unable to remember what happened, suffered broken bones in her shoulder, and back as well as a concussion.
