After another motorist brought it to his attention, state Trooper Ryan Fitzgerald saw Christopher Max Oettel sleeping behind the wheel of his 2005 Toyota Sienna that was stopped in an intersection near East Penn Street in Muncy Creek Township about 5:30 p.m. on Feb. 5, it was stated in an affidavit.

It took Fitzgerald “multiple attempts” to get the 47-year-old man awake, the court document stated. The trooper ordered Oettel to put the SUV in park and to get out of the vehicle. “It appeared that he had heavily bloodshot and glassy eyes with dilated pupils,” the trooper said, adding that the driver “was sweating and seemed extremely nervous.”

Oettel, of 8376 Route 14, Trout Run, refused to undergo field sobriety tests, the trooper said. When asked when was the last time he used drugs, Oettel replied “I can’t (expletive) say that,” it was stated in the affidavit. The driver did admit that that he was “planning on going into rehab,” and that he had used methamphetamine in the past few days and “various drugs in the past week,” according to Fitzgerald. However, Oettel told the trooper that he was not impaired.

Oettel consented to having the vehicle and a backpack in the SUV searched, the trooper said. Police discovered and seized five bags of suspected fentanyl and more than 180 assorted unidentified pills that were in plastic bags or bottles, it was stated in the court document. Oettel agreed to submit a blood sample, but medical staff could not get one despite several attempts, Fitzgerald said. Arraigned recently before District Judge Kirsten Gardner on charges of possession with intent to deliver multiple controlled substances, DUI, possession of controlled substances, possession of drug paraphernalia and four summary offenses, Oettel has since waived his preliminary hearing and remains free on $35,000 bail.