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Lower Merion police identify driver in hit-and-run

Lower Merion police have identified a 75-year-old Villanova woman they believe is responsible for a hit-and-run accident July 15 that injured a Bryn Mawr boy.

Lower Merion police have identified a 75-year-old Villanova woman they believe is responsible for a hit-and-run accident July 15 that injured a Bryn Mawr boy.

Police Superintendent Michael J. McGrath said the woman is Suzanne K. Lammers, of the 1600 block of Hepburn Drive. Investigators impounded Lammers' gold 2002 Volvo station wagon, which McGrath said had damage to the windshield on the passenger side.

McGrath said when confronted by investigators, Lammers admitted her role in the accident and told investigators she thought she had struck a deer.

The accident took place at midday as the boy, 13, rode his bicycle west on New Gulph Road near Morris Road. After the collision, the driver didn't stop, police said.

The boy, who wasn't wearing a helmet, was air-lifted to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia in critical condition with a head injury, but has since rallied and is recovering at home.

Media coverage of the accident generated hundreds of tips from citizens and sparked a busy two weeks for detectives, who knew from bystander reports that they were seeking a tan or gold Volvo station wagon.

"Literally hundreds of possible suspect vehicles have been inspected," McGrath said. An anonymous tip pointed detectives to a garage on Hepburn Drive, where they found the vehicle today, he said.

McGrath said Lammers is cooperating with police. Charges, he said, won't be filed until investigators finish processing the impounded car, likely Thursday.

In a hit-and-run accident, the alleged driver is likely to be charged with causing an accident involving death or personal injury, a third-degree felony, and failure to render aid, a summary offense, McGrath said.

Contact staff writer Bonnie L. Cook at 610-313-8232 or bcook@phillynews.com.