Pa. woman charged in hit-and-run crash with Amish buggy

TITUSVILLE — A Spartansburg woman has been charged for a Sparta Township hit-and-run crash with a horse-drawn Amish buggy that seriously injured a young couple and their two children.

Lindsay Nicole Raines, 35, was arraigned Monday morning before Magisterial District Judge Amy Nicols in Titusville on multiple counts including four felony charges filed by Pennsylvania State Police.

Police accuse Raines of driving a sport utility vehicle that struck the buggy from behind on Canadohta Lake Road around 7:30 p.m. July 5 and then fleeing the scene.

Police said the buggy was traveling west on Canadohta Lake Road, about 300 feet west of Route 89, when it was hit from behind by a black 2018 Chevrolet Traverse. The SUV then fled the scene west on Canadohta Lake Road, police said.

The four people in the buggy — Jacob M. Miller, 24, and Tina J. Miller, 23, both of Spartansburg, and their two sons, a 1-year-old and an infant — were injured.

The Millers were taken to UPMC Hamot in Erie while the children went to UPMC Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh, police said.

The charges against Raines were filed about four months following the crash.

“It took awhile as my office and the Pennsylvania State Police wanted to make sure there was a thorough investigation,” Crawford County District Attorney Francis Schultz told the Tribune on Monday. “We needed to receive the medical records of the injured and the nature of their injuries.”

Raines has been charged with four counts of accidents involving death or personal injury, two counts of aggravated assault by vehicle, and one count of accidents involving damage to attended vehicle or property,

Raines also has been charged with summary counts of failing to stop and give information, failing to notify police of accident, reckless driving, careless driving, following too closely, limitations on passing left, and restriction on alcoholic beverages.

The two counts of aggravated assault by vehicle are graded as third-degree felonies as are two of the accidents involving death or personal injury counts. Each has a maximum penalty of seven years in jail and a $15,000 fine, if convicted.

The two other counts of accidents involving death or personal injury are graded as first-degree misdemeanors. Each has a maximum penalty of five years in jail and a $5,000 fine, if convicted.

The accident involving damage to attended vehicle count is a third-degree misdemeanor with a maximum of one year in jail and a $1,000 fine.

Raines also has been charged with summary counts of failing to stop and give information; failing to notify police of accident, reckless driving, careless driving, following too closely, limitations on passing left, and restriction on alcoholic beverages.

Raines was released on $15,000 unsecured bond following her arraignment Monday. She faces a preliminary hearing on the charges Dec. 7 before Nicols in Titusville.