Collegeville Drunk Driver Charged With Homicide By Vehicle: DA

COLLEGEVILLE, PA — Homicide by vehicle charges have been filed against a driver who police said was intoxicated during a fatal crash in Collegeville in early November. The charges come following several weeks of investigation into the incident.

John Rufe, 62, of North Wales, also faces DUI and related charges.

The incident occurred back on Nov. 6 at around 9:13 p.m.

Rufe and his passenger, Margaret Ann Berman, 57, of Trappe, left a restaurant on the 400 block of Main Street in a 2018 Ford Mustang.

Rufe later told police he had two beers at home before picking up Berman, and then had more beer at the restaurant before leaving, according to a criminal complaint.

Toxicology tests showed that Rufe's blood alcohol level was .132 percent, according to the DA's Office, over the .08 percent legal limit.

Witnesses told police the Mustang "let it rip" swinging out left onto Main Street. Crash data investigators retrieved from the vehicle indicated that the Mustang was going around 55 miles per hour, police said.

Coming into a slight turn near Clame Avenue, Rufe lost control, and the car spun out and slammed into the side of a Range Rover coming in the opposite direction, according to authorities.

Rufe and Berman were trapped inside the vehicle, and first responders on the scene had to remove them. Rufe was taken by ambulance to Paoli Hospital for treatment.

Berman was taken to Einstein Montgomery, before a helicopter transported her to Einstein Hospital in Philadelphia. She was declared dead at around 3 a.m. the next morning, Nov. 7.

There were three passengers in the Range Rover suffered minor injuries.

Rufe was arrested and booked at Montgomery County Correctional Facility on $50,000 bail. A preliminary hearing is set for Dec. 22.