Bath, Pennsylvania — A woman from Bethlehem is facing several charges, some of which are alcohol-related, after she was involved in a June 19, 2015 accident in Bath that injured a man. The news reported that 28-year old Ashley Nicole Cory is being charged with aggravated assault by vehicle while drunk (and several other offenses) after she ran into Arnoldo Garcia’s parked car in Bath on June 19.
The accident left Mr. Garcia with serious leg injuries.
Cory reportedly fled the scene after the accident as well, the news said. She had been driving her car along the 100 block of Main Street that night around 11:00 p.m. when she lost control and swerved off the side of the road.
Her car crashed into Arnoldo Garcia’s parked car, where he had the door open and was reaching to retrieve something. The accident also involved Cory’s car hitting several other parked vehicles as well.
After the initial wreck, however, she drove away and tried to get help for a flat fire. Police found her about 2 blocks away and arrested her.
As it turned out, her BAC was .18%, which is over 2X the legal limit. Cory later told police that she had been at The Fox (a nearby gentleman’s club) and had had four drinks there. She’s now facing some court dates and serious fines.
Map of the Accident
Commentary:
My understanding of Pennsylvania’s laws regarding the sale and service of alcohol is that it’s prohibited for them to sell to customers who are already intoxicated or are underage. Well, given the circumstances here, it looks like one of those things was true of this driver, am I correct? A BAC of .18% means that she was probably very obviously drunk that night and any bartender in their right mind shouldn’t have kept serving her drinks.
Now, I don’t know all the specific details or whether she had perhaps drank some more after leaving this club, but it seems like this establishment ought to be investigated a little more. If they over-served an off-the-clock employee or allowed one to get drunk and cause an accident, then they would potentially bear some of the liability for any accident they caused as a result of their intoxication.
— Grossman Law Offices
