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Derek James Sensenig, 30, of Akron, was speeding and weaving in and out of traffic in his 2020 Lincoln Aviator SUV when he crossed the double yellow line and caused a two-crash in the 3900 block of Oregon Pike on Friday, September 2 at 11:37 a.m., according to West Earl Township police.
Sensenig hit a 2011 Toyota Camry driven by Jeffrey Myers, 65, of Brownstown who "was pronounced deceased upon arrival at (Lancaster General Hospital) due to the injuries from the collision," police say.
Sensenig was charged with two felonies for Homicide by vehicle while under the influence, Homicide by vehicle; three misdemeanors for Driving under the influence - general impairment, Influence driving of drug or combination of drugs, Combination influence of alcohol and drugs; as well as a summary offense for Driving on roadways laned for traffic, court records show.
He has been held in the Lancaster County Prison in lieu of $50,000 in bail, as detailed in court documents.
He waived his preliminary hearing on Friday, Oct. 7.
During the case investigation "prosecutors learned that Sensenig recently had pleaded guilty and been sentenced to a DUI charge on July 27, 2022," and the punishment included a mandatory one-year suspension of his driver’s license, but the Lancaster County Clerk of Courts Office failed to notify PennDOT Sensenig’s conviction, DA Heather Adams said in a statement on Friday.
"The law requires that the Clerk of Court’s Office send a DL-21 form to PennDOT within 10 days of any conviction of a vehicle code offense. After PennDOT receives the DL-21, it is required to notify the driver, in writing, of their suspension. A driver is informed at the time of their sentence that the suspension will take effect within 60 days. PennDOT, however, will take no action until a DL-21 form is received from the Clerk of Courts," as stated in the release.
38 days after his DUI conviction in July, the error was noticed and has since been corrected, according to the DA.
"The error was described as an 'oversight' in correspondence with the District Attorney’s Office and not due to filing backlogs," as stated in the release.
"While we cannot say that this tragedy would have been prevented had the clerk’s office submitted the notice to PennDOT in a timely manner as required by law, it certainly highlights the reason why it is critical that these forms be submitted in a timely and accurate manner to PennDOT," Adams said.
The District Attorney’s office reviewed a sampling of 110 DUI convictions over a 60-day period to ensure that PennDOT was receiving timely notice of a driver’s conviction in other cases, 24 DUI convictions, all of which were beyond the 10-day limit as required by law, had not been submitted or prepared, according to the review.
"Corrections made, but it is unclear how many additional cases were impacted and over what period of time," as written in the release.
The DA's office also noted that "affected drivers should also be aware that an untimely notice of their suspension alone will not excuse the suspension."
“The public needs to be assured that these records have been identified and corrected and that there is a system in place moving forward that ensures compliance with the law,” Adams said.
You can learn more about the suspension and revoking policies here.
If you are concerned about the timely suspension of your license, you can research your criminal docket online at https://ujsportal.pacourts.us. If the docket contains a notation “DL-21 sent to PennDOT” then PennDOT has been notified of your conviction and you should receive further notification and direction from PennDOT. You may also call PennDOT at 1-800-932-4600 to inquire about the status of your license.
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