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Man charged with DUI, assault in crash involving 3 teenagers

OVAL — With three teenagers in the car, Travis J. Wagner was under the influence of drugs and alcohol when he crashed his westbound 2002 Subaru Outback in the 1600 block of Middle Road on the afternoon of Feb. 18, shearing off a utility pole, which caused the vehicle to overturn multiple times, according to state police.

Riding in the back seat was 18-year-old Tara Hall, who was ejected from the Subaru as it rolled “five to six times” before landing upside down in a driveway about 4:45 p.m., Trooper Devin Park said.

“Hall stated that she was scared because the vehicle was traveling between 90 and 100 mph. Another passenger stated they were traveling 100 mph. The speed limit for Middle Road is 45 mph,” Park said.

Wagner, 20, of 759 W. Village Drive, Nisbet, has been arrested on more than a dozen charges stemming from the violent crash, including aggravated assault, aggravated assault while driving under the influence and aggravated assault by vehicle.

Hall, of 525 Alexis Drive, Loyalsock Township, is listed as the victim in each of the assault counts due to the severity of her injuries.

Wagner also was hurt as were the two other passengers in the car, Devin Grassymyer, 19, of 515 Reynolds St., South Williamsport, and Noah Brown, 19, of 20 S. Washington St., Montoursville.

In an affidavit filed at the office of District Judge Jerry C. Lepley, Park listed Hall’s injuries as a “split pancreas, a brain bleed” and fractures to her hip, a vertebra, a rib and a wrist.

Park said no one in the vehicle was wearing a seat belt.

When a trooper questioned Wagner at the crash scene before he was flown to Geisinger Medical Center, Danville, he “detected an odor of an alcoholic beverage” coming from him. All three passengers were taken to the UPMC Susquehanna Williamsport Regional Medical Center, where a trooper detected an odor of alcohol “on all three,” Park said.

In addition to the assault charges, Wagner faces charges of recklessly endangering, driving under the influence of a controlled substance and alcohol, driving at an ­unsafe speed, reckless driving and underage drinking.

Already on probation, Wagner was arraigned before Lepley and remains jailed in the Lycoming County Prison in lieu of $75,000 bail.

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