Charges filed in woman’s death
Suzanne Ritenour was walking to a social club in Allenport in February 2016 to buy her grandson candy bars when she was struck by a vehicle and suffered head injuries that would contribute to her death five months later.
The investigation into the incident outside of Allenport Rod and Gun Club led Roscoe, Elco, Stockdale and Allenport Regional police to file charges Monday against the alleged driver, Mary A. Matz, 33, of 436 Mt. Tabor Road, Long Branch, court records show.
Police were called about 7 p.m. Feb. 1, 2016, to the club at 1904 Main St. where they found the grandson and Matz with Ritenour, who appeared to be injured or sick, an officer stated in the affidavit supporting the criminal charges in the case.
Ritenour said she didn’t know what had happened, while Matz told the officer Ritenour had fallen. The officer noticed an injury on the back of Ritenour’s head and an ambulance was summoned to the scene because she was “becoming more and more confused,” the officer stated in the court record.
Ritenour, who was 58 years old at the time of her death and from Allenport, was flown by helicopter to Allegheny General Hospital, Pittsburgh, where she was diagnosed as having a brain bleed.
Matz, by that time, had left the area of the club in her vehicle.
Others in the crowd approached police and said the 10-year-old boy, whose name was not disclosed, had witnessed the accident. However, he didn’t cooperate with police until three days later, saying Matz’s sport utility vehicle struck Ritenour as it was pulling out of the club parking lot.
Matz later agreed to meet with police Feb. 10, but she didn’t show up for the interview.
Ritenour was transferred March 25, 2016, to an acute care center in Greensburg and she died July 16, 2016, in Mountain View Specialty Care Home, Unity Township.
The Westmoreland County coroner’s office said Ritenour died of cardiopulmonary failure due to physiological stress, immobility and brain trauma. The manner of her death was undetermined, the court record indicates.
Police on Monday charged Matz with causing an accident involving a death, failure to give information and render aid and making a false report to police. District Judge Larry Hopkins issued the case in a summons.