Amon Jailed in Deadly Crash

Catherine Anne Amon, 47, of the 400 block of Maple Avenue, was sentenced Monday, Sept. 19, in county court to a three- to six-year state prison term and a $1,500 fine.

During her summer trial, she was of non-DUI vehicular homicide and involuntary manslaughter. The jury did not find the Upper Southampton resident guilty of the more serious charge of homicide by vehicle whiling driving under the influence.

PhillyBurbs.com reported, Amon, in addition to jail time, will have to pay $12,277 in restitution for the New Year's Day accident which claimed the life of her on-and-off again boyfriend Raymond Bloemker, 40, of Huntingdon Valley.

Amon told the court she did not intend to drive after the New Year's party her and Bloemker attended, but alcohol and drugs changed that, the website reported.

“I made a bad decision that will haunt me the rest of my life,” Amon was quoted as saying during yesterday’s hearing.

Members of Bloemker’s family, including his two teenage daughters, provided victim impact statements to the court. His daughters wrote about all of the life milestone their father will miss, like watching them graduate and get married, PhillyBurbs.com reported.

At the time of the crash, Amon and Bloemker were heading to her Maple Avenue home after attending a New Year's party at a nearby friends house.

According to court testimony, Amon was drinking champagne, smoking marijuana and consuming cocaine in the hours before the crash.

The crash occurred on Jan. 1, 2011, minutes after 6:30 a.m. in the 1800 block of East Bristol Road, west of Murray Road, in the Churchville section of Northampton Township. The 2008 Mazda Six, with an intoxicated Amon driving, and Bloemker in the passenger seat, veered off the road and struck three trees—when the car came to a stop Bloemker was dead, according to court testimony.

When Albert Costantini, a 22-year veteran of the Upper Southampton Police Department, arrived at the scene of the crash on New Year's Day, he said Amon was screaming, “Help him! Help him! You have to help him!” Costantini checked the him, Raymond Bloemker, and discovered he had no pulse.

An autopsy revealed Bloemker, who was wearing a seat belt, died of severe injuries to his heart, ribs and lungs.

Northampton Township Police Department Detective Charles Pinkerton, testified during Amon’s that when he arrived to the accident scene he smelled the stench of alcohol on Amon’s breath and observed her glassy and bloodshot eyes.

At around 8:30 a.m., on the morning of Jan. 1, Amon had blood drawn at St. Mary’s Hospital. When tested it was determined she had a .114 BAC (blood alcohol content). Her blood also tested positive for marijuana and cocaine, according to testimony from Theodore Siek, the toxicology director for the Bucks County Crime Lab.

Court documents show, Amon, who at the time of the crash, had her license suspended from an April 2009 DUI arrest in Middletown Township.

During her mid-summer trial, Amon the jury she lost control of her car when she hit black ice on Bristol Road. She talked about the fact that there was snow on the shoulder of the road, but officers indicated tp the jury that the roads were dry on New Year’s Day.

In 2009, Amon’s boyfriend at the time, Frank Rees, was in the car with her coming home from , when he somehow he ended up outside the car while it was moving. He suffered serious injuries and his body was discovered by Upper Southampton police the next morning. Amon was not charged with any crime in that incident.

Patch Editor Rob Chakler contributed to this report.