DUBOIS – A DuBois woman accused of seriously injuring two people after hitting their vehicle head-on, was scheduled for a preliminary hearing Friday.
Katie Lynn Kilmer, 28, was charged by Sandy Township police with two felony counts each of aggravated assault by vehicle while driving under the influence, and aggravated assault by vehicle as well as misdemeanor DUI, seven misdemeanor counts of possession of drug paraphernalia and several traffic summaries in relation to an accident on Sept. 2 on the Bee Line Highway.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, when officers arrived, they found two vehicles against an embankment facing west along the southbound lane.
Kilmer, the driver of the first car along with two people in the other vehicle, was unable to answer questions at the scene and was flown by helicopter to UPMC Altoona for treatment.
After learning the seriousness of the injuries and the possibility of death for all three patients, police secured the scene for further investigation.
A witness told police he was traveling north on state route 255 behind a cement truck. Kilmer’s vehicle, which was behind him, “proceeded to make an unsafe pass of both his vehicle and the cement mixer truck simultaneously.”
This driver said he was going about 55 miles per hour at the time she started passing. She did not complete the pass until she was outside the clearly marked, designated passing zone, he told investigators.
By the time she completed the pass, there was a left-hand bend in the road, which limited visibility. There was traffic traveling southbound in the opposing direction “clearly visible to him and constituted a hazard,” the complaint says.
Near the intersection of Mt. Run Road, Kilmer’s vehicle was reportedly in the southbound lane where it collided with the other vehicle head-on.
When Kilmer’s vehicle was searched, police found drug paraphernalia, two open prescription bottles and a vape pen, they noted in the report.
Kilmer’s blood results taken at the hospital revealed she had amphetamine, methamphetamine, Fentanyl and norfentanyl in her system, police said.
In an interview in December, Kilmer admitted to having a past history of drug abuse with heroin and methamphetamine.
She told investigators she didn’t remember the crash, but she had relapsed a few days prior to the accident. She allegedly admitted to snorting methamphetamine and heroin in her vehicle.
The passenger in the other vehicle suffered a broken femur, broken bones and internal injuries which required numerous surgeries. The driver also suffered broken bones as a result of the crash, according to the report.
Kilmer waived her right to a preliminary hearing during centralized court on Friday sending the case on to the county court. She is being held in the county jail in lieu of $25,000 bail.