Wayne County District Attorney, Patrick L. Robinson, announced today that a Wayne County Jury convicted Sean Hannon, age 49 of Dunmore, PA, of two (2) Felonies and four (4) Misdemeanors relating to allowing his eleven (11) year old daughter to drive a vehicle from Covington Township, Lackawanna County to Salem Township, Wayne County. The Jury deliberated approximately one (1) hour before reaching their verdict. Senior Judge Raymond L. Hamill found the defendant guilty of two (2) Summary offenses. District Attorney Robinson personally prosecuted the case.
Evidence at trial showed that the Defendant allowed his eleven (11) year old daughter to drive approximately 10 miles from his house on Drinker Turnpike, in Covington Township, Lackawanna County to the intersection of SR 690 and Neville Road in Salem Township, Wayne County. The Defendant’s eight (8) year old son was a passenger.
The Defendant directed his daughter’s driving which eventually resulted in her running up under a pine tree. The Defendant’s BAC was .228%. The Defendant attempted to extricate the vehicle from the pine tree branches but was prevented from doing so by a Good Samaritan who grabbed the vehicle keys from the ignition. During the wild ride from Lackawanna County to Wayne County the daughter drove erratically swerving, running a stop sign, and running a vehicle coming from the opposite direction into a ditch.
The Defendant was convicted of all charges consisting of two (2) counts Endangering the Welfare of Children (F3), two (2) counts of DUI (M1), two (2) counts of Recklessly Endangering Another Person (M2), the Summary offenses of Driving While DUI Suspended and the Summary offense of Permit Unauthorized Person to Drive.
District Attorney Robinson stated, “The Jury did a good job of arriving at a fair and just verdict. The Pennsylvania State Police did their usual good job of investigating this very serious crime. However, I would like to single out the “Good Samaritan” who brought this crazy episode to a halt. The Good Samaritan did his job as a citizen and without his intervention this episode could have easily ended in a tragedy.”
At the conclusion of the trial Judge Hamill revoked the Defendant’s Bail. Sentencing is scheduled for October 4, 2018.
