Driver that caused accident in death of Neumann lacrosse player charged with homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence

Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 2/25/14
Staff Report

The driver of a car that caused a December accident that killed Neumann College freshman lacrosse player Dante DeSimone while he was standing on a Baltimore Pike sidewalk has been charged with homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence, Delaware County District Attorney Jack Whelan announced at a press conference Monday.

Charged was Jonathan I. Vanderhorst, 45, of Lansdowne.

DeSimone, an Upper Darby graduate who also played lacrosse and ice hockey for the Royals, was 18. He served as co-captain of the Upper Darby lacrosse team in 2013.

The Delco Times reported that Whelan said Vanderhorst had significant quantities of marijuana and the prescription anti-anxiety drug Clonazepam in his system at the time of the crash, according to blood work performed by DrugScan.

The Times also reported that investigators determined Vanderhorst was “a recent user of multiple psychoactive agents” and was “unfit to operate a motor vehicle safely on the highway,” according to an affidavit of probable cause by the Clifton Heights Police Department, and the Delaware County Criminal Investigation Division.

Vanderhorst faces a mandatory minimum sentence of three to six years and could face up to 40 years, the Times reported.

According to the affidavit of probable cause, Vanderhorst was driving a Ford Taurus east on Baltimore Pike in Clifton heights at 9:20 p.m. on Dec. 12 when he turned to enter the McDonald’s in the oncoming lane and struck a pickup truck that crashed into DeSimone and a friend, Tim Robison. Robison suffered serious injuries.

Vanbderhorst was arraigned before Magisterial District Judge Harry J. Karapalides and is scheduled for a preliminary hearing March 6.