Assault plea in crash that injured flagger

Ethan Schumacher is led from the Susquehanna County Courthouse Thursday after pleading guilty to charges related to a crash that seriously injured the flagger on a road construction crew. PHOTO BY STACI WILSON

The driver that barreled through a Bridgewater Twp. construction zone last year seriously injuring a flagger pleaded guilty to several charges Thursday in the Susquehanna County Court of Common Pleas.
Ethan Schumacher, 27, of Montrose, entered guilty pleas to one felony count of aggravated assault with a motor vehicle and four misdemeanor counts of recklessly endangering another person in front of Senior Judge Kenneth Seamans.
As part of the plea agreement, Schumacher will be evaluated to determine if he is eligible to enter the State Intermediate Punishment (SIP) program. The 24-month program is designed for offenders who are convicted of drug-related offenses.
According to the agreement, Schumacher will also be sentenced eight years of probation – two years for each recklessly endangering count – following his release from the SIP program.
If he is not accepted into the program, the plea would be vacated, District Attorney Robert Klein told the court.
Schumacher admitted to traveling at a high rate of speed southbound in a Ford Escape on State Route 29 near Lake Montrose, passing over the double yellow line the morning of Nov. 9, 2015, and into an active construction zone where he struck flagger Mark Smith of West Nanticoke.
According to court documents, Smith sustained major injuries, including an amputated left lower leg, a skull fracture and several other injuries.
Smith was working for a private contractor on the road project at the time of the crash, according to PennDOT.
The crash was reconstructed by Cpl. Michael Joyce of the Troop R C.A.R.S. Unit and the report concluded that Schumacher was driving 56-62 mph at the first evidence of braking; and 36-44 mph when he struck Smith.
Klein said construction workers, motorists traveling in both directions; and a PA Fish & Game official were all put in harm’s way by Schumacher.
Although blood test results were positive for morphine, marijuana and other drugs, the DUI component of the initial charges was dropped in the agreement.
Defense attorney Patrick Rogan said his client cooperated with the investigation from the beginning, and is remorseful.
Rogan said Schumacher has a history of prescription drug abuse, adding that if it were not for that addiction, his client would not be in court.
Rogan said he believed the SIP program sentence and probation was a “fair outcome” for his client and that Smith and his family had been “very gracious to him.”
Klein told the court that Smith had been apprised of the plea agreement.
A sentencing date will be set after Schumacher is evaluated for entry into the SIP program.