Towamensing woman pleads guilty in two pending cases

A Towamensing Township woman, charged with assaulting a state trooper and later arrested for causing a disturbance at the Carbon County courthouse, entered guilty pleas in both cases Thursday and was immediately sentenced.

Dolores Senavitis, 45, of 7735 Pohopoco Drive, pleaded to one count each of resisting arrest, harassment and disorderly conduct.

Senavitis is the wife of Thomas Senavitis, 45, who is scheduled to go on trial on March 10 in Monroe County court on charges stemming from a crash that resulted in the death of state Sen. James J. Rhoades of Mahanoy City. The accident occurred on Oct. 17, 2008, along SR209 in Brodheadsville, Chestnuthill Township.

Mrs. Senavitis was arrested for assaulting a state trooper outside the Wildcat Bar in Towamensing Township, on Nov. 20, 2008. Troopers responded to the bar looking for her because of a prior report of a domestic incident at her home involving her daughter and son-in-law.

Mrs. Senavitis was observed leaving the bar and getting into her vehicle and attempting to back up. Troopers stopped her. She then exited the car and attempted to return to the bar but was stopped by troopers. She then became combative with the officers and had to be physically restrained. In the process she assaulted Trooper Tony Weller in the face and neck causing injuries. She was intoxicated at the time, troopers said.

She was originally charged with driving under the influence (DUI), aggravated assault, resisting arrest and harassment. The DUI was dismissed following a preliminary hearing before District Judge Bruce Appleton, of Palmerton.

Yesterday she pleaded to resisting arrest and harassment stemming from the incident with troopers.

The conduct charge stems from an incident at the courthouse which occurred on April 23, 2009. She was on the second floor of the courthouse for a pretrial conference with the district attorney on the pending assault count. Her husband accompanied her at the hearing and was detected to allegedly have an odor of alcohol on him. When he was asked to leave the courthouse by sheriff deputies, his wife intervened and became combative with the deputies.

She was placed under arrest and charged with resisting arrest, persistent disorderly conduct, both misdemeanors, and disorderly conduct, as a summary. The two misdemeanor counts were dropped in a plea bargain.

Defense attorney Paul Levy told Webb that Mrs. Senavitis had "drinking issues" at the time, but is currently addressing them. He said he had seen a marked change in his client since the incident at the courthouse and that she was getting help for her problem and has it under control.

She told Webb she was sorry for what she did and wanted to get everything behind her and move on with her life.

Webb imposed a year probation on the resisting count and 90 days probation on the conduct and harassment charges, all running concurrently. She was also ordered to get both a mental health and drug and alcohol evaluations and follow any recommendations for treatment, pay court costs and a $50 per month supervision fee while on probation.