November 10, 2026
Daniella Heminghaus/USA TODAY NETWORK via Reuters Connect
The driver of the Doylestown DART bus that fatally struck Ronald Davenport on Aug. 12 is facing criminal charges, the Bucks County District Attorney's Office says. Another fatal hit-and-run involving a DART bus remains under investigation.
A man has been charged in the first of two fatal hit-and-run crashes involving Bucks County Transport buses that occurred in the last few months.
Blair Vanacore, 69, of Jamison, allegedly was driving the Doylestown DART bus that fatally struck Ronald Davenport, 83, on Aug. 12. He has been charged with accidents involving death, not rendering aid and careless driving, the Bucks County District Attorney's Office said Monday.
MORE: Former Bucks County teacher who appeared in PBS series dies after getting hit by bus in Doylestown
The DA's office also said it has expanded its investigation of the second fatal hit-and-run crash, which occurred Nov. 2 and killed retired teacher Katherine Semisch, 67.
Vanacore was driving the Doylestown DART bus, a low-cost shuttle, outside an apartment building at 1290 Almshouse Road and failed to see Davenport walking in the road at 9 p.m., prosecutors said.
Investigators said a driver's side tire hit Davenport, jolting the bus upward. It then came to a stop for a few seconds before continuing forward and running over Davenport with a rear tire. Davenport was dragged for several feet before he became dislodged, and the bus came to a stop 25 to 35 feet away.
Vanacore allegedly exited the vehicle, spoke to Davenport before calling 911, and gathered Davenport's belongings for him. But prosecutors said he failed to offer aid or wait for first responders and left the area, telling police that he had to return the bus to a storage depot by 10 p.m. Davenport was taken to Jefferson Abington Hospital and pronounced dead.
Investigators have reviewed 911 audio and video footage from inside the bus. Vanacore allegedly told dispatchers that "someone fell in the parking lot" and did not mention that he had struck someone, prosecutors said. A crash reconstruction team has conducted testing and found that Davenport should have been in plain sight.
A spokesperson for the DA's office said Vanacore has been placed on leave by the Bucks County Transport, which operates the DART buses. The DA's office added that the company does not require drivers to have a commercial license or prior driving experience.
The transport company has come under fire after the Nov. 2 crash killed Semish, who was crossing a circle in front of Doylestown Library when she was fatally struck by a DART bus. Semish was a retired teacher and community leader.
The county coroner's office has listed her death as accidental. On Monday, the DA's office said investigators will review Bucks County Transport's safety policies, driver protocols and hiring practices.
"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," District Attorney Joe Kahn said at a news conference Monday.
Though their deaths came under similar circumstances, the DA's office declined to comment on whether the cases are considered connected.
