Woman accused of hitting boy with vehicle waives hearing

A Franklin woman accused of striking a boy with her vehicle last week waived her preliminary hearing Wednesday in Venango County Central Court.

Angela Fiorentino, 18, will now be bound over for further court proceedings on 24 charges, including nine felonies.

The felony charges include two counts of criminal attempt – aggravated assault, one count of solicitation of minors to traffic drugs, five counts of criminal use of a communications facility and one count of criminal attempt – aggravated assault by vehicle.

A criminal complaint filed through district judge Matthew Kirtland’s office said Franklin police officer Bradley Barnhill spoke with Fiorentino on Sept. 21 because she claimed she was assaulted by two people in the Sheetz parking lot. Fiorentino said she was hit with spaghetti sauce and tried to flee from her attackers, striking a fence post in the process, the complaint said.

In an interview a short time after the initial report, Fiorentino said she was in the Shop ‘n Save parking lot when the incident took place and, later in the same interview, she said she was in the St. Patrick Church parking lot in the 500 block of Ninth Street, the complaint said.

Barnhill later learned through his investigation that Fiorentino lied to police, the complaint said.

The complaint said Fiorentino actually solicited a minor to purchase a controlled substance Percocet and/or Adderall.

Fiorentino used her cell phone at least 15 times to facilitate the drug delivery and stopped at a local gas station to remove a $20 bill from an ATM before exchanging it for two $10 bills, the complaint said.

When Fiorentino arrived at the meeting location in the 900 block of Park Street, she was struck with spaghetti sauce by a juvenile boy, the complaint said.

Fiorentino then tried to hit the boy with her vehicle at least four times while driving on private property, the complaint said.

Eventually, Fiorentino did strike the boy, pinning him against the vehicle and an exterior wall of a residence, according to the complaint.

Fiorentino then reversed her vehicle and aimed it at the boy before accelerating in his direction, the complaint said.

Damage was also done to a garage and an item in the driveway during the incident, the complaint said.

Fiorentino fled the scene without rendering aid or contacting emergency personnel as required, and she filed a false police report, the complaint said.

Fiorentino later admitted to the crimes and provided a written statement to police, the complaint said.