Bucks County District Attorney Joe Khan, on Monday, announced the charging of a felony hit-and-run offense and related charges against a bus driver involved in the August death of an 83-year-old man in the parking lot of Grundy Hall in Doylestown Township, while announcing an expansion of the investigation following two fatal crashes in Bucks County in less than three months involving Bucks County Transport, Inc.
In response to last week’s second fatal collision involving a bus operated by Bucks County Transport, which claimed the life of a beloved Central Bucks educator, District Attorney Khan announced an expansion of the ongoing investigation, to include a review of the company’s safety policies, driver training protocols and hiring practices of Bucks County Transport, a private, nonprofit shared-ride service that provides rides for senior citizens, people with disabilities, and others in need of transportation.
Joined by law enforcement partners at a Monday news conference, District Attorney Khan opened by observing a moment of silence and offering heartfelt condolences to the families and loved ones of Ronald Davenport and Katherine Semisch.
Ronald James Davenport, 83, of Doylestown Township, died in the Aug. 12 crash at Grundy Hall. A graduate of Neshaminy High School, Davenport was a devoted husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather whose family was the center of his world. After retiring from a successful career in sales, he remained active in his church.
Katherine “Kitty” Semisch, 67, of Doylestown, was struck and killed by a bus on Nov. 2 in the parking lot of the Bucks County Library in Doylestown. Semisch was a retired teacher at Central Bucks High School West and a beloved community fixture whose enormous presence and dedication left an indelible mark throughout Central Bucks.
“So Ronald and Kitty are remembered 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, under tragically similar circumstances, being outside in the drop off areas in institutions we know well. Both of them were run over by a vehicle that was owned and operated by Bucks County Transport.”
“This is what our office has pledged to do, which is to protect those who need us, to ensure that Bucks County is going to be safe for them. And you’ve all heard us talk about how we’re going to make sure we protect our kids, we protect our seniors. And this is a case that cuts through that,” DA Khan said at the news conference. “This is a case where both of those that we lost were seniors, that deserve our protection. They deserve for us to get justice. Mr. Davenport was struck just outside of Grundy Hall, and the library is a place for all of us, but especially our kids and seniors, who rely on our free library as a place where they could be safe.”
Following an extensive investigation by Doylestown Township Police and the District Attorney’s Office Crash Investigation Team, Blair R. Vanacore, 69, of Jamison, was charged Monday with accidents involving death or personal injury, a felony of the second degree that carries a minimum sentence of three years in state prison. Additionally, he was charged with duty to give information or render aid and careless driving.
The Aug. 12 fatal accident occurred at approximately 8:54 p.m. at Grundy Hall, located at 1290 Almshouse Road in Doylestown Township, as Davenport was crossing the roadway within the complex.
Doylestown Township officers arrived on scene after receiving an initial 911 call reporting a fall victim and discovered Davenport lying in the road with severe injuries. Officers were quickly notified that the victim’s injuries were caused by a bus that had already left the area. Police contacted Vanacore, who was the operator of the bus, and instructed him to return to the scene.
The investigation revealed that Vanacore was driving a 2024 Ford E450 Super Duty Bucks County Transport bus when he failed to see Davenport in the roadway, striking the victim and knocking him to the ground. The driver-side tire made direct contact with Davenport’s body, causing the heavy bus to lurch up in the air and come to a stop for a couple of seconds. After pausing, the bus continued forward, and the rear driver-side tire ran over the victim. Davenport was dragged underneath the bus for several feet before becoming dislodged and rolling out from underneath, after which the vehicle continued traveling another 25 to 35 feet before coming to a final stop. Bucks County Transport, which operates the DART system in Central Bucks County, does not currently require drivers to have prior commercial driving experience or a commercial driver’s license.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, Vanacore got out of the bus, observed Davenport severely injured on the ground, and briefly spoke with him. Vanacore placed the 911 call himself and gathered the victim’s belongings, placing them next to him. Rather than rendering life-saving aid or waiting for first responders, Vanacore fled the scene before emergency services arrived. He later told police he felt he had to leave because he needed to return the bus to the storage depot by 10 p.m. Davenport was transported to Abington Hospital, where he was pronounced dead from multiple blunt force injuries.
Investigators reviewed 911 audio recordings, in-bus video footage, and physical evidence from the scene. In his initial 911 call, Vanacore informed dispatchers only that “someone fell in the parking lot,” deliberately omitting that he had struck the victim with his bus. The crash reconstruction team also completed both daytime and nighttime visibility testing as part of the investigation to confirm the victim was in plain sight.
In a separate incident at 3 p.m. on Nov. 2, 2026, Central Bucks Regional Police Department officers responded to a vehicle-pedestrian collision involving a Bucks County Transport bus on the property of the Bucks County Library at 150 S. Pine St., Doylestown. Semisch was crossing the circle in front of the library when she was struck by the bus, police said. She was transported to the hospital where she was pronounced dead.
The Aug. 12 crash was investigated by Detective Corporal Chris Power of the Doylestown Township Police Department and Plumstead Township Police Sergeant Jeffrey Moffett, a crash reconstructionist with the District Attorney’s Office Crash Investigation Team, and is assigned for prosecution to Deputy District Attorney Samantha D’Amore.
The Central Bucks Regional Police Department, with assistance from the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office Crash Investigation Team, is continuing to investigate the Nov. 2 crash. Bucks County Detectives are conducting the separate investigation to Bucks County Transport.