Bensalem man sentenced in fatal Christmas Eve hit-and-run in Croydon

Another holiday season is approaching. It's the time of the year that Jamie Santos dreads the most.

On Dec. 24, 2021, the day before her daughter’s birthday, a call from her brother sent her rushing out the front door so fast that she triggered the Christmas music on her doormat.

Santos soon learned that her father, John Dugan, 65, was struck and killed as he was crossing State Road headed to celebrate the holiday with neighbors. The cherry red pickup truck that hit her father did not stop.

“Christmas Eve will never be the same and pulling out the decorations will forever be a reminder of running out the door that night,” she said Tuesday at a hearing for the 21-year-old Bensalem driver responsible for her father’s death.

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Kevin Baker Jr. was sentenced to  2 ½ to 5 years in state prison as part of a negotiated plea deal accepted by Bucks County Common Pleas Judge Wallace Bateman Jr.

The agreement allowed Baker to plead no contest to involuntary manslaughter, a first-degree misdemeanor, in the death of Dugan, meaning he did not admit guilt but acknowledged that there is enough evidence to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Baker was initially charged with accidents involving death or personal injury, a felony.

Baker also pleaded guilty to a separate felony drug-related charge after Bensalem police arrested him earlier this year, while he was out on bail from the hit-and-run case, and charged him with running a large illegal marijuana operation.

Under the agreement Baker received time served for the drug charge and immediately paroled so he can start serving his state prison sentence in 10 days.

The sentence followed an emotional hearing that included victim impact statements from family members including Dugan’s fiance Christine Mazzatenta, who Baker narrowly missed striking.

Dugan and Mazzatenta had gotten halfway across State Road when Dugan tripped and fell in the eastbound lane.

As he attempted to get up, a red pickup truck driven by Baker ran him over, leaving a dark mark across his back. He was rushed to the hospital where he died as a result of blunt impact injuries.

Authorities alleged four days after the fatal accident, Baker attempted to repair damage to the pickup. The next day, his father turned it into police claiming it matched a description of the vehicle suspected in the hit and run.

In addition to significant front-end damage, DNA swabbed from the underside of the pickup was a match with Dugan, prosecutor Jovan Jose said.

Brittney Dugan said that she cannot forgive Baker for what he did, not only killing her father-in-law, but ruining what was once a joyous time for them.

“If only he could hurt on the holiday like our family does,” she said.

Santos called her father a caring, loving and forgiving man who was always available for family and friends.  He was a survivor, after doctors gave him a 10% chance of survival after he was diagnosed with throat cancer more than a decade ago.

“I have been through two Christmases, almost three, without him, his birthday, my birthday, Father’s Day, bringing in two New Years,” Santos said. “I will always, always miss my dad and wish there was a chance to make things happen differently that night.”

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Mazzatenta wore a black sweatshirt with a photo of Dugan flanked by angel wings and his birth and death dates on the back.  On the front was a photo of her and Dugan.

“My soulmate is my guardian angel. Will always love you.”

She described Dugan as her “soulmate for life.” A great family man who was kind, generous, funny and loved to buy her roses.

“A wonderful human being,” Mazzatinta said. “If I could make one wish, it would be to bring John Dugan home.”

Baker apologized to the Dugan family for what happened, but claimed that, at the time, he did not know he struck a person.

“I’m truly sorry,” Baker said, adding. “This doesn’t show what kind of person I am.”

Bateman, though, called it hard to believe that Baker could have struck Dugan and not know it given the amount of damage to his pickup truck.  He also noted that while the accident was not intentional, it still cost a decent, hardworking man his life.

“If not for your recklessness, we’d not be in the courtroom together like this,” Bateman said. ““What you did was reckless and grossly negligent. A man lost his life.”

The judge also expressed sympathy for the Dugan family whose Christmases are forever stained with sadness and grief.

“Every holiday season they are reminded of their loss,” he added.

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This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Fatal Croydon hit-and-run solved; Bensalem driver sentenced