A 69-year-old Upper Darby man is facing homicide by vehicle charges after police say he struck and killed a 78-year-old pedestrian while driving drunk and with marijuana in his system near West Chester Pike and North Linden Avenue. John J. McGonigle III, who lives in the 200 block of North Lynn Boulevard, has not yet been arraigned as of October 2, 2026.
According to Delco Times, police were dispatched to the intersection for a vehicle crash involving a pedestrian and found the victim semi-conscious on the ground with severe head trauma. Lansdowne Fire Company MICU 19 transported the victim to Lankenau Hospital, where the victim later succumbed to injuries on June 4, 2026.
Investigators say surveillance video showed McGonigle exiting a bar at 5:25 p.m. and later turning left from West Chester Pike onto North Linden Avenue at 6:52 p.m., shortly before the crash. McGonigle told police he was coming from a bar in the 8900 block of West Chester Pike and said he’d had three drinks, the outlet’s report notes. Officers reported detecting an odor of alcohol on him, finding him unsteady on his feet, and noting he was unable to complete a field sobriety test.
Toxicology Results Push Charges Past Simple DUI
Blood tests showed McGonigle’s blood alcohol level at 0.133 percent, along with 1 nanogram of Delta-9 THC and 18 nanograms of carboxy-THC marijuana metabolites in his system, per the same account. That BAC places him in Pennsylvania’s “high rate of alcohol” DUI tier under 75 Pa.C.S. § 3802(b), which covers levels between 0.10% and 0.159% and sits well above the state’s 0.08% legal limit, according to Petersen Law…