South Lebanon Township police announced charges on Tuesday, June 25, over a fatal April 30 hit-and-run that left 77-year-old Casimira Pakola dead.
Police said they have charged 19-year-old Zachary Steven Werner with one count each of homicide by vehicle and accidents involving death, both felonies, as well as a misdemeanor charge of involuntary manslaughter and a handful of summary offenses.
South Lebanon Township police were dispatched at approximately 7:39 a.m. on April 30 to the 000 block of Eastfield Drive for a hit-and-run involving a pedestrian. Pakola was found dead at the scene.
Police said that they learned during investigation that the driver had fled the scene at a high rate of speed. The driver of the striking vehicle was later identified as Werner, police said.
South Lebanon Township police were assisted by the county’s Serious Traffic Accident Response Team, the Lebanon County Detective Bureau, and the District Attorney’s office.
According to the criminal complaint, the 911 caller, who lives on the block, told police upon their arrival to the scene that she was in her garage when she heard a loud “boom” around 7:34 a.m.
The witness told police that, after hearing the boom, she looked outside of her window and observed “hair flying in the air” as a woman, later identified as Pakola, was struck by a white sedan traveling eastbound and accelerating fast, according to the complaint.
The complaint states that Pakola flew onto the hood of the car and was observed later falling onto the ground where the vehicle ran her over and dragged her. The complaint states that the witness reported the vehicle did not stop and fled the scene.
The complaint has more details on how Werner was identified.
At the scene on April 30, another neighbor told police that one of the “Werner’s youngest son’s drives a white sedan,” while a third neighbor had a Nest door camera, which captured two frames: one at 7:34.41 showing a white sedan traveling east on Eastfield Drive followed by another frame 12 seconds later showing Pakola in the street.
A fourth neighbor said she saw “the state Trooper’s son” drive past in a white sedan and later provided a written statement to this effect. (The complaint notes that Werner’s father is a retired Pennsylvania state trooper.)
The complaint states that Werner’s mother also arrived at the scene and told police that her son had departed around 7:32 a.m. to go to school at Cedar Crest.
South Lebanon Township police Sgt. David Troxell, who wrote the affidavit of probable cause, said he went to Cedar Crest High School, where he located a white 2010 Honda Accord registered to Werner’s father parked in the student lot. Troxell said the vehicle had dents, blood, and hair on it and was seized as evidence.
School administrators then brought Werner to the parking lot, Troxell said, after which Werner was transported to South Lebanon Township Police Department.
Troxell said that around 11:46 a.m. on April 30, Werner was interviewed and admitted that he had struck a person when departing his home.
“Yes, it was my fault,” Werner was quoted as saying to Troxell in the interview.
According to the affidavit, Werner told Troxell that he left the scene because he was “scared and panicked.”
The affidavit states that surveillance video of the Cornwall-Lebanon School District parking lots showed that upon Werner’s arrival to Cedar Crest, he exited the vehicle and walked past “numerous persons including a school resource officer of which he does not attempt to make any report or notice of the accident.”
According to the complaint, the accident reconstruction team concluded in part that “the evidence indicates the accident causing the death of Casimira Pakola was caused solely by the gross negligence of the operator of the white Honda, being Zachary Werner, where he failed to avoid striking Casimira Pakola, then pushed/dragged her with the vehicle and then drove over Casimira Pakola while operating the vehicle.”
According to court documents, Werner was arraigned Tuesday morning in front of Magisterial District Judge Anthony J. Verna and then was remanded briefly to Lebanon County Correctional Facility before posting 10% of $50,000 bail. No further court dates have been set at present.
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated the overall bail amount, which is set at 10% of $50,000, not $5,000 as originally stated.
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