Folcroft man arrested in designated driver hit-and-run accident

An arrest has been made in the hit-and-run accident that seriously injured a 33-year-old Collingdale man who was serving as the designated driver for his wife and friends New Year's Eve.

John McManus, a father of two, was hit after a night out with his wife, Misty, and his longtime friend, Dan Petrucci, and Petrucci's girlfriend, Casey Friedman.

After dinner in Media and fireworks at Harrah's Chester, McManus drove his Ford minivan to Petrucci's home on Taylor Drive in Folcroft around 2 a.m.

"Casey had trouble with the seat and John got out of the car to help her," Petrucci said. "That was when he was hit."

Police said Matthew Cooper, 24, was driving the car, a 2005 Ford 500, that hit McManus. Cooper was also coming from a party on Taylor Drive.

The next morning, a neighbor at the Laurel Manor apartment complex on Providence Road spotted an unknown vehicle in the parking lot with extensive damage to the windshield and bumper, and called the police. Officers later traced the car to Cooper.

Cooper told police "he didn't know what he hit," said Corporal Christopher Eiserman of the Folcroft Police Department. "He stated he knew he hit something, but he didn't know what it was."

Cooper has been charged with: accidents involving death and personal injury, leaving the scene of an accident, and failure to render aid.

McManus was taken to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania with a collapsed lung and facial injuries. Though he was in critical condition, "doctors said he was responding well," Petrucci said.

"He's a big guy, over 200 pounds and over six feet," Petrucci said. "If it had been Casey who had been hit, I don't think she could have survived."

Petrucci and McManus have spent New Year's Eve together for the last 18 years. "Usually we have a party at his house or at my house. This year we decided to do something different."

As the sedan that hit McManus sped away, Petrucci was able to get a partial license plate number - a Pennsylvania tag beginning with AES or AE5.

Debris at the scene, including a side mirror and part of a headlight, indicated the car was a sage-green Ford 500, said Folcroft Police Chief Robert Ruskowski.

McManus owns and operates Majestic Solutions, a contracting firm in Collingdale. He and his wife have a daughter, 7, and a son, 8.

Staff Writer Kia Gregory contributed to this report.