SAXONBURG — A woman accused of driving under the influence with a child in the vehicle and causing a head-on collision at a Penn Township intersection last month saw felony charges added to her case Wednesday, Aug. 23, at a preliminary hearing.

Five people were taken to the hospital following the July 4 crash at the intersection of Brownsdale Road and Royal Oak Drive, two of whom testified about their injuries Wednesday.

Chelsie E. Brown, 32, of Butler, appeared for the hearing before District Judge Sue Haggerty with attorney Michael Waltman. She was charged with felony child endangerment, five counts of misdemeanor reckless endangerment, DUI and several traffic citations after the crash.

Dave Beichner, assistant district attorney, said he intended to add two felony charges of aggravated assault by vehicle while driving under the influence to the criminal complaint. That request was granted following testimony from the witnesses and all charges were held for the Court of Common Pleas.

Police said the crash occurred as Brown was traveling west on Brownsdale Road in a Ford Explorer. Police said she crossed the center line and struck a Jeep Cherokee head-on. There were four passengers, including two teenagers, in the other vehicle.

All four passengers from the Jeep and Brown’s 3-year-old son were injured in the crash.

Brown was found to be under the influence of alcohol during the crash, documents showed.

A 17-year-old girl, whose collarbone was broken in the crash, testified that she hasn’t been able to work at her job in a nursing home kitchen due to the injury. She also showed the courtroom a small bump on her collarbone that has formed as her bones healed.

A second witness, Lucas Lloyd, 24, said his knee was fractured in the crash. He entered the courtroom wearing a knee brace and told Beichner that he hasn’t been able to work at his family’s concrete business.

“It’s a lot of heavy lifting. Forty pounds is light weight,” he said.

He added that he could not move his knee for a month.

Beichner said the witnesses testimony showed serious bodily injury resulted from the crash.

Waltman said he didn’t think the commonwealth had met its burden, as the injuries detailed in testimony did not measure up to statutes on serious bodily injury.

“I appreciate having a broken kneecap; it’s obviously an inconvenience, but the broken knee required no surgical intervention,” he said in reference to Lloyd.

Beichner countered by reading the definition of serious bodily injury from the state criminal code and said both witnesses indicated they were unable to work while they healed.

“More than two months, we’re dealing with fractures that have caused impairments to both victims’ bodies and impaired them from making a living,” he said.

Haggerty said she would be holding all charges over to the Court of Common Pleas, and added two additional felony charges to the complaint against Brown.

Brown will next appear for formal arraignment in October.