Boyfriend pleads guilty for intentional crash that left 4 trapped in overturned vehicle

Just before Jamar Freshley was escorted out of a Westmoreland County courtroom he turned to tell his girlfriend, “I love you.”

Freshley, 33, of New Kensington, pleaded guilty Wednesday to aggravated assault and other offenses.

Police said he slammed his car into the vehicle driven by his girlfriend last Oct. 28, and his mother and two young children were passengers. The impact of the crash propelled their vehicle onto its side.

Westmoreland County Common Pleas Judge Scott Mears sentenced Freshley to serve three to six years in prison. Freshley also was ordered to pay nearly $13,000 in restitution.

Defense attorney Patricia Elliott-Rentler said the crash was a result of a domestic dispute between Freshley and his girlfriend. According to court records, Freshley made earlier threats against his girlfriend and chased them in his car after they drove away from the family’s residence.

Police found the victim’s vehicle overturned at the intersection of Ewing Street and Constitution Boulevard in Arnold, with the two women and two children, ages 2 and 5, trapped. First responders were able to extricate them from the vehicle and the two adults were treated for injuries, police said.

“He didn’t know the kids were in the car,” Elliott-Rentler said following Wednesday’s court hearing.

As part of the plea deal, prosecutors dismissed aggravated assault counts involving the two children.

Guilty in second incident, too

Freshley, in a separate case, also pleaded guilty to a felony charge of witness intimidation.

That charge was filed earlier this year after investigators claimed Freshley made more than 200 telephone calls to his girlfriend while incarcerated in the Westmoreland County Prison. Police said Freshley made as many as 14 calls on one day. Recordings revealed he repeatedly asked his girlfriend not to testify against him in the assault case.

As part of Freshley’s sentence, he was ordered to have no abusive contact with the victims. His girlfriend told the judge she supported the sentence.

“I just would like to make sure our children can visit him,” she said.