Newtown Woman Faces Aggravated Assault Charges In 2025 Hit-And-Run

BRISTOL BOROUGH, PA — A Newtown Township woman is in custody this week and facing aggravated assault charges for a hit-and-run that injured a woman outside a Bristol Borough bar in April.

On Friday, the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force took 32-year-old Laurie Ann Gardner into custody at a home on Thorny Apple Lane in Bristol Township.

Gardner is charged with two counts of aggravated assault, two counts of aggravated assault by vehicle, three counts of simple assault, and one count each of recklessly endangering another person and criminal mischief.

The incident unfolded on April 26 outside of Phinny Magee's Pub on Farragut Avenue in Bristol Borough.

Bristol Borough Police responded to the bar after a bar tender reported that two women were fighting outside the bar after the bar had closed.

According to an affidavit of probable cause, one of the women got into a dark colored SUV with a male passenger and allegedly attempted to run down the other woman. The vehicle then fled east on Farragut Avenue to Green Lane and Route 13.

At 4:05 a.m., Bristol Township Police located the vehicle at a home on Bath Road and spoke to the owner of the vehicle. He was with an unidentified woman, who refused to cooperate and made the officers leave, court documents say.

The victim told police she was sitting on a steel bench anchored into the concrete in front of the bar when she said Gardner drove down a sidewalk in her direction.

Court documents say the victim was struck by the car, pushing her against the wall of the bar and causing her head to hit the wall. She was transported to Jefferson Torresdale Hospital with a fractured hip and a laceration to the head that required 10 staples.

The victim later identified the suspect as Gardner in a photo lineup and a warrant was issued for Gardner’s arrest, said court documents.

Gardner was arraigned Friday morning before District Judge David Chichilitti and was sent to the Bucks County Correctional Center in lieu of $500,000 bail.