Bucks County Transport bus driver charged in deadly pedestrian crash

And remember, we're looking deeper into two individuals now who have been hit and killed by transport buses out there. The district attorney is expected to speak. We're also supposed to hear from detectives in the situation. A lot of people are wondering whether or not child charges will actually be filed. So, again, that is happening right now as we speak. The district attorney has stepped up to the podium. You guys take a live listen in. Ronald was 83 years old and we lost him on August 12th outside of Grundy Hall, the retirement facility where he lived. He was a beloved husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather. He was a graduate of Neshaminy High School who built a successful career in sales before retiring where he remained active in his church enjoying his retirement and enjoying his family. He is survived by his wife, his four adult children, and their families. We lost Kitty on November 2nd when she was 67 years old. She was a retired teacher here in the Central Bucks School District where she spent her career at Central Bucks West, teaching for 26 years, beloved by all who knew her in and out of the classroom. During her retirement, she spent her time traveling and camping with her husband, spending time with her kids and her grandkids, and notably being active in her community. Fighting for a better future for Bucks County children even after she retired from teaching as was memorialized in the recent PBS documentary series Bucks County USA. So Ronald and Kitty are joined not just... For the lives that they lived and the lives they touched here in Bucks County for being exemplary pillars of our community. But they are joined by tragedy because we lost both of them far too soon. We lost both of them under tragically similar circumstances, being outside in the drop-off areas in institutions we know well, Grundy Hall, a place where our seniors are supposed to be safe both inside and outside the building. The Bucks County Free Library, just a few blocks from us here in Doylestown Borough, where my kids spend most days of the week, outside or inside or both of that facility. Both of them were run over by a vehicle that was owned and operated by Bucks County Transport. Bucks County Transport is a private non-profit corporation that provides an important service which includes providing shared ride services for Bucks County residents. This includes shuttle buses for seniors and people with disabilities as well as providing the DART system which is a fee-based service that many residents of Doylestown use to get To get from place to place in an area that relies on that sort of infrastructure to To make life easier for Bucks County residents. So, I'm here to announce the following. And let me just say at the outset that any time in Bucks County when someone is hit by a vehicle, our office, the district attorney's office, and this has been going on for some time, we deploy what's called the Bucks County crash team. That is our seasoned investigators working with our attorneys hand-in-hand with local law enforcement to determine the cause of the crash, to determine exactly what happened. This is a very extensive process. It requires, in many cases... Accident reconstruction, physical testing, and ultimately a recommendation as to whether any criminal charges are appropriate. So with respect to Mr. Davenport's death, I am prepared to announce today the filing of criminal charges. I will say at the outset that with respect to Kitty's death, we do not have an update on that investigation other than to assure folks that we are actively pursuing all information. That we have received that we are going to make sure that we follow all the appropriate steps to bring a just resolution in that case, which, like all cases that the crash team undertakes, involves a close study of what the operator did, why the operator did what they did and whether or not any criminal charges are appropriate. The additional announcement I have today also concerns the fact that our office is now conducting an investigation run by our county detectives into Bucks County Transport to figure out exactly what was going on with this company at the time of these deaths, what policies were in place that need to be reviewed, and that we have done everything that the people of Bucks County deserve to have somebody doing to ensuring that we're not up here again with a third photograph of someone who gets taken from our community. So having said that, today our office has filed charges against Blair Vanacore, who was the driver of the Bucks County Transport bus that struck and killed Ronald Davenport on August 12, 2026. After beginning our investigation, our reconstruction team was able to establish that during the collision that Mr. Davenport was in plain sight. According to the allegations presented in our affidavit of probable cause, on 8.54 p.m. at outside Grundy Hall, while Mr. Davenport was crossing in the parking lot of the complex, Mr. Vandecourt was driving a Bucks County Transit bus, did not stop when Mr. Davenport was in the parking lot, struck Mr. Davenport, struck him to the ground. The driver's side tire then made direct contact with Mr. Davenport's body, causing the bus to lurch up in the air and come to a complete stop. The bus continued forward. The rear driver's side tire ran over Mr. Davenport, who was dragged underneath for several feet before becoming dislodged, and his body rolled out from underneath the bus. According to our affidavit, Mr. Vandecourt got out of the bus, saw Mr. Davenport, who at this point had sustained life-threatening and essentially life-ending injuries, saw him, spoke to him, and then used a phone to call 911. But rather than telling the 911 dispatcher that I just struck somebody with my car, you better get over here, because that's what occurred here. He said to the dispatcher that somebody had fallen in the parking lot. He gathered the victim's belongings, put them next to the victim, did not render any life-saving aid, did not wait for police, did not wait for first responders or an ambulance, but left the scene. Mr. Davenport was seen by first responders. He was transported to Abington Hospital where he was pronounced dead from multiple blunt force injuries. Now, when investigators spoke to Mr. Vanacore, he agreed to give blood. The blood testing showed no presence of alcohol or any controlled substances. He stated that he believed he had run over a shoe. And also stated that the reason that he left rather than stay on the scene was that he believed he would get in trouble with the company if he did not return the bus to the depot by 10 o'clock that evening. The complaint that has been filed today charges Mr. Vanacore with three violations of Title 75, that's the vehicle code here in Pennsylvania, Section 3742, which is a felony of the second degree, which alleges that he was responsible for an accident involving death or personal injury where he did not stop. Section 3714, which is careless driving, and 3744, which is failing in the duty to give aid or information. That lead charge is a second-degree felony. The other charges are summary offenses. I want to thank all of the investigators and attorneys and those who have been part of helping us move these cases forward. As I mentioned, We are announcing charges with respect to Mr. Vanacore. That case was investigated by Doylestown Township Police and I want to thank Chief Chuck Ziegler as well as Detective Corporal Chris Powell who are both present with me today. I am also joined by County Detective Tim Furman who has been assigned to work on my office's independent investigation into Bucks County Transport. And we are also joined by The assigned prosecutor in the case, Deputy District Attorney Samantha DeMoore, as well as her supervisor, Deputy District Attorney Christine Sassani, and Chief of Staff Brendan Flynn from my office. And with that, I'll be happy to answer any questions, but as I said, I do not have any updates to share with respect to the investigation into Ms. Semish's death, but happy to answer any other questions. You're talking about the township? Yeah. If you have questions about Doylestown Township's conduct, I'd have to refer you to the township. How old was the driver? Yes, sir. 69. How do you spell his name? The exact spelling is V-A-N-A-C-O-R-E. First name is Blair, B-L-A-I-R. Do you know what he said to... I'm sorry, take care of that again, Joe. Where does he come from? Mr. Vannacourt? Yes. Excuse me. Jamison, Pennsylvania. Have you been driving long with the company? I don't have that information right now. Do you know what the conversation was between the two before he decided? It's a great question. We don't have a recording of that. And so we don't have a recording of it. And the information that I shared is all the information we have at this time. Where did he go and how did you catch up with him? Mr. Vanacore? So Mr. Vanacore returned the bus to the bus depot and then was apparently intending to go home. The investigators contacted him on the same phone number he'd used to call 911, persuaded him to come back to the scene, and he eventually did come back to the scene, and that is when the process of both interviewing him as well as getting his consent to draw blood occurred. I'm not sure I'm wrong. It was the same day. It was within hours. With an outfit? Yeah. Is there any video or anything that you're using for the investigation? Yeah, let me just see what I can say to that. Yeah, yeah. Okay. All right, you guys, as they continue with the Q&A section of this particular press conference, remember, we just heard that charges have officially been filed in at least one case as it pertains to Bucks County Transport System. They say a bus hit and killed two different senior citizens. The one person whose case has had files charged in, excuse me, charges filed in, is that of Ronald Davenport, an older gentleman who was out and of A parking lot who, when he was hit, they say they are officially charging Blair Vanacore, a 69-year-old bus driver who allegedly saw the victim, spoke to the victim, even called 911, but failed to tell the dispatcher that he had hit him with his vehicle. We'll get you more updates on everything that's happening in that particular case.