'She's got a problem'
Woman arrested for DUI while out on bail for homicide by vehicle while DUI.
A WOMAN awaiting trial on charges that she killed a young man while driving intoxicated in Philadelphia two years ago was arrested in Upper Darby on Tuesday night for crashing her car while high on heroin and prescription pills, police said.
Nichole Labelle, 24, of Secane, rammed her vehicle into an unoccupied parked car on Westbrook Drive near Alverstone Road about 8:45 p.m. Tuesday, said Upper Darby Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood.
When police arrived on scene, Labelle had only one shoe on and was speaking in a lethargic manner, Chitwood said. She allegedly told police she got distracted and crashed her car.
As police questioned Labelle further, she told officers she had shot up heroin and taken Adderall and Seroquel before getting behind the wheel, Chitwood said.
"So, she's got a problem," he said.
Labelle has many problems, according to authorities.
At the time of her arrest, she was out on bail awaiting trial on charges of homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence in a midafternoon crash on July 15, 2012, that killed George Kaminski, 21, of West Grove, Chester County.
According to police, Labelle was on Enterprise Avenue in Southwest Philadelphia when she drove onto the shoulder and hit a stopped tractor-trailer. Kaminski, a passenger in that truck, died two days after the crash from severe head and body trauma.
Labelle's bail was initially set at 10 percent of $350,000 in that case but was later reduced to 10 percent of $50,000, which she posted last August, according to court records.
Tasha Jamerson, spokeswoman for the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office, said Labelle is scheduled for her next pretrial conference in the case on Dec. 17, and prosecutors are most likely to bring up the new charges against her and possibly request a bail revocation then.
In this week's case, Labelle was charged with DUI, careless driving and related offenses, Chitwood said. She now sits in Delaware County Prison in lieu of $250,000 bail.
"This is a great American tragedy, these morons who get behind the wheels of these cars and continue to drive," Chitwood said.
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