Witness heard “crack” when Delco ADA’s car hit teen

Snezana Fetic had a bad feeling when she saw a teenage boy standing on the center line on busy Township Line Road in Upper Darby as she drove by late one night last November.

"Then I heard the crack," Fetic testified in a Delaware County courtroom Thursday. She glanced in her rear-view mirror and saw the boy laying on Township Line Road in Upper Darby. She pulled over and called 911.

The boy, Jake Vantrieste, now 15, suffered a broken leg and pelvis and had bleeding on his brain as a result of the incident. The teen was hospitalized and missed three months of school.

Michael Donohue, 32, a former Delaware County assistant district attorney, is charged with aggravated assault and related crimes.

Prosecutor Joseph McGettigan said Donohue was out drinking with co-workers the night of the crash and was impaired. Donohue was on his cellphone when his Jeep Cherokee allegedly struck Vantrieste at 10:23 p.m., he said.

Donohue's defense attorney, Mark Much, does not disagree that his client's vehicle struck the Haverford Township teenager or that he left the scene, but he contends that Donahue was not drunk.

Witnesses testified that Donohue left the gathering about 9 p.m. to collect political lawn signs, pick up a pizza, and visit two volunteer fire departments.

A former waitress at Sligo, a pub in Media, testified on Tuesday that Donohue ran up bar tabs totaling $120 that night.

None of the witnesses at the bar testified that Donohue appeared impaired.

Fetic never saw the car that hit Vantrieste or the driver, she said.

She did see a man who was beside a SUV push part of a skateboard away from his front tire and drive away, she said.

The trial is to continue Friday before visiting Judge John Braxton.

Contact staff writer Mari A. Schaefer at 610-892-9149, mschaefer@phillynews.com or @MariSchaefer on Twitter.