Police: Drugged-up driver hit man mowing lawn

A 24-year-old Schwenksville woman was charged today with driving while drugged up after she allegedly crashed through a fence, critically injuring a man mowing his lawn.

Authorities say Megan Marie Rossi had consumed a cocktail of prescription drugs before driving her 2005 Buick Rendezvous on Laver Road in the Schwenksville section of Limerick Township about 12:30 p.m. on Nov. 6.

Investigators found that Rossi was on the east side of the road and approaching a driveway on the unit block when her SUV rammed through a split-rail fence and onto a lawn, striking a man riding a mower.

The impact threw the man onto the hood of the car, according to a statement by Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman and Limerick Township Police Chief William Albany.

The car kept going until it entered a flower bed, the statement said.

Investigators say Rossi then backed her vehicle from the lawn and back on the roadway before stopping. They believe she also may have been using a mobile phone at the time of the crash.

The man, who was not identified, is still in serious condition at a Philadelphia hospital, "where he is only able to communicate by blinking his eyes."

Rossi, of Tristen Way, was given a blood test and tested positive for a combination of prescription drugs, such as Nordiazepam, Oxazepam, Clonazepam, Alprazplam, Oxycodone and 7-Amino Clonazepam.

The toxicology report noted that the amount of drugs was enough to impair the woman and make her "unfit to operate a motor vehicle safely."

Vetri Ferman called the case, "another tragic example of a person turning their car into a weapon by getting behind the wheel after using prescription drugs."

Rosse was arraigned today before District Judge Walter F. Gadzicki, Jr. who set bail at $25,000.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Dec. 13.