Homicide by vehicle while DUI charge against Washington woman withdrawn
State Trooper Vincent Borello escorts Crystal Rush, who is facing a homicide by vehicle charge for a wreck that killed her 6-year-old son, into District Justice Ethan Ward’s court Tuesday near Taylorstown.
State Trooper Vincent Borello escorts Crystal Rush, who is facing a homicide by vehicle charge for a wreck that killed her 6-year-old son, into District Justice Ethan Ward’s court near Taylorstown on Tuesday.
A Washington woman who was reportedly behind the wheel of a vehicle that crashed on Interstate 70 more than two years ago that killed her 6-year-old son waived charges including homicide by vehicle to court Tuesday after the prosecution withdrew charges of driving under the influence of a controlled substance and homicide by vehicle while DUI.
Crystal Lashea Rush, 25, also waived remaining charges of accidents involving death or personal injury while not properly licensed, endangering the welfare of children, reckless endangerment, driving without a license and with a suspended license, failure to properly restrain a passenger, as well as equipment violations, before District Judge Ethan Ward.
Rush’s legal troubles do not end with the crash. After waiving her case, she was arraigned before Ward on four counts of possession with intent to deliver Suboxone and two counts of possession of a controlled substance. A member of the state police vice unit obtained a warrant for Rush last month stemming from an incident in February 2015. She reportedly sold the drug on two occasions to an undercover trooper at locations in Washington.
While state police said Rush had Vicodin in her system when she crashed her vehicle June 4, 2014, on Interstate 70 near the Taylorstown exit in Buffalo Township, killing her son, Dominic, Washington County District Attorney Gene Vittone said he did not feel the drugs in her system caused the crash. After consulting with First Assistant District Attorney Dennis Paluso, they decided to withdraw the DUI-related charges.
Rush was driving west when her vehicle went into the median and overturned several times. Rush and her son were ejected from the vehicle. She was found in the median while the boy was pinned under the roof of the vehicle. Rush reportedly told a state police corporal at the scene that she did not know who was with her or where her children were.
“The punishment she gets from the commonwealth is nothing like the punishment she has every day waking up without her child,” defense attorney Sam Pangburn said Tuesday. “That hurts far beyond what you or I could imagine.”
She remains in Washington County jail on $150,000 bond set in both cases. She will be formally arraigned on charges stemming from the crash on Sept. 29. Rush is scheduled for an Aug. 3 preliminary hearing on the drug charges before District Judge Robert Redlinger.