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District courts charge 13 with DUI

When a city police officer arrived at a two-car crash at Fifth and Park avenues about 5:30 p.m. on Feb. 15, one of the drivers, Jayden Matthews, 20, of 1127 Tucker St., blurted out “I’m very high right now,” according to an affidavit. Police said he ran a stop sign, crashing into another vehicle. There was a very strong odor of burnt marijuana coming from inside Matthews’ car, police said. A blood test confirmed he had marijana in his system at the time.

Charged with DUI of a controlled substance, possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia, he has since waived his preliminary hearing and is free on $5,000 bail.

In another case, suspected impaired driver Craig Stephen Eck was driving a 2020 Subaru when he pulled out into traffic, directly in front of an Old Lycoming Township police officer in the 3700 block of Lycoming Creek Road about 1:30 a.m. on March 22, according to an affidavit. The officer had to slam on her brakes in order to avoid a collision, police said.

Upon conducting a traffic stop, the officer immediately detected an odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from the 45-year-old Eck, who “performed field sobriety tests unsatisfactorily and displayed signs of impairment,” police said. Eck, of 315 Hoover Drive, Cogan Station, who refused to submit a blood sample, was charged with DUI and is free on $2,500 bail.

In another case, while driving a Nissan Titan, Melinda Confair fled the scene after striking a parked vehicle in the 300 block of Smith Street in Jersey Shore about 8:20 p.m. on April 7, Tiadaghton Valley Regional police alleged.

Several minutes later, Confair, 47, of 6910 Pine Run Road, Jersey Shore, returned to the scene and “hit more parked vehicles,” police alleged in an affidavit. “She appeared confused and her speech was thick and slurred, and her eyes were bloodshot, glossy,” an officer wrote in the court document. She “performed poorly” on field sobriety tests, police said. Her blood-alcohol concentration level was .10, police added. Charged with DUI, accidents involving damage to unattended property (hit-run), reckless driving and careless driving, Confair has been sent a summons to appear before a district judge.

In another case, it was just before 2 p.m. on Feb. 14 when Tiadaghton Valley Regional police found Noah Fox-Carr slumped over the steering wheel of his 2003 Mazda Tribute with the engine running and the transmission in drive at the stop at the top of the the Thomas Street off-ramp from Route 220, according to an affidavit. Fortunately, the man’s foot was on the brake pedal, police said. An officer quickly entered the passenger side, shut off the car and removed the keys, court records stated.

Once he was awakened, Fox-Carr, 27, of Lock Haven, clearly appeared to be under the influence of a controlled substance, police said, adding that the driver had a bag of suspected fentanyl or cocaine. Taken into custody, Fox-Carr was placed in the back of a cruiser, but he was soon found slumped over on the seat and had to be awakened a second time.

He was taken to Geisinger Jersey Shore, where he “vomited excessively” in the parking lot, police said, adding he refused medical treatment. A blood test revealed that Fox-Carr had fentanyl and marijuana in his system, police said. Charged with DUI of controlled substances, possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia and driving with a suspended license, Fox-Carr is free on $5,000 bail.

In another case, Dylan Lucas Dale, 23, of 376 E. Mountain Ave., South Williamsport, had three drugs in his system – including marijuana and cocaine – when a state trooper stopped his pickup truck on Pine Street in the city about 8 p.m. on Nov. 1 because of a burned out brake light and the registration on the vehicle had expired several months earlier, according to an affidavit.

While being questioned, Dale freely admitted that he had a bag of crack cocaine in his pocket, which the trooper obtained, court records stated. Charged with DUI of controlled substances, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia, Dale is free on bail after waiving his preliminary hearing,

In another case, soon after an Old Lycoming Township police officer stopped his pickup truck near Memorial Avenue and Lacomic Street about 9:20 p.m. on Feb. 23, Brian Keith Hoy admitted he “was drunk and that he drank vodka earlier in the day,” according to an affidavit. He was stopped because there already was a felony warrant for his arrest on file, police said. His license also had been suspended, court records stated.

At the time, Hoy, 48, of Lock Haven, had a blood-alcohol concentration of .14, police said. He was arraigned and jailed that night on the felony warrant that had been filed by township police, charging him with burglary-related offenses. The charges were later dropped after the alleged victim would not cooperate with investigators. Charged with DUI and driving with a suspended license, Hoy has since waived his preliminary hearing on these offenses and is free on $2,500 bail.

In another case, it was fresh tire tracks in snow that helped a Montourville police officer find a motorist who damaged a gas pump at the Turkey Hill, 300 Broad St. about 1 a.m. on Dec. 24, borough police alleged in court papers. The tracks led to Bret Liddic’s home at 409 N. Montour St., where an officer found Liddic, 33, standing outside his garage. “Liddic smelled of beer and had difficulty maintaining his balance while standing in place,” the officer said in an affidavit.

“Liddic admitted being at the Turkey Hill to buy cigarettes, but denied causing damage to the fuel pumps. He also admitted to driving, but knew his license was suspended,” according to court records. Police allege Liddic “smashed” the price/gallon display on one of the pumps before pulling away in his Kia Sorento with two children in the car. Liddic, who refused to undergo field sobriety tests or submit a blood sample, has been charged with DUI, endangering the welfare of children, criminal mischief and driving with a suspended license, and is free on $5,000 bail.

In another case, Nova Jacobs, 44, of 394 Route 973 West, Cogan Station, also refused to submit a blood sample after a state trooper stopped her for suspected drunk driving on Interstate 180 in Loyalsock Township about 8 p.m. on March 7, according to an affidavit. “I immediately smelled a strong odor of alcohol coming from the vehicle,” the trooper said, adding that there were open alcoholic beverages inside the 2008 Hyundai, the court document stated. Jacobs was unable to complete field sobriety tests. Charged with DUI and careless driving, she is free on $5,000 bail.

In another case, upon arriving on the scene of a single-vehicle crash on Route 220 in Piatt Township about 8:15 p.m. on April 12, a Tiadaghton Valley Regional police officer detected an odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from the driver, Shelley Ann Read-Helm, 52, of Linden, according to an affidavit. She told the officer she was ok, but he noticed there “was blood on her hands,” the court document stated.

Read-Helm was treated in the back of an ambulance by an emergency medical technician, police said. She told the EMT she had one glass of wine, police said.

“I asked her how much she had to drink. She stated she wasn’t drinking and she was upset that I asked her,” an officer wrote in the court document. Police said she had difficulty performing field sobriety tests. Charged with DUI, Read-Helm was free on $5,000 bail.

In another case, Kristen Sander, 40, 25 S. Market St., suite 35, Muncy, has been charged by borough police with DUI on Sherman Street about 6:15 p.m. on March 22, when she arrived to pick up her child at an activities center, according to court records.

Center employees called officers to the scene after Sander pulled up in her 2019 Jeep allegedly in an intoxicated condition, police said, adding that there was “a very strong odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from her vehicle.” She was taken into custody after she performed poorly on field sobriety tests. She admitted to having two glasses of wine, police said. Sander, who refused to submit a blood sample, has since waived her preliminary hearing and is free on $2,500 bail.

In another case, Michael J. Trimble, 53, of Clarion, has been charged with DUI and three summary violations following a two-vehicle crash on Route 405 in Muncy Creek Township about 9:50 p.m. on March 5, state police said. Both a passenger in his pickup truck and the other driver were taken to UPMC Muncy, police added. “Trimble’s eyes were bloodshot and glassy, and his speech was slurred. He also stumbled while walking,” a trooper wrote in an affidavit.

Trimble admitted he had two beers earlier in the evening, police said, adding that he “exhibited signs of impairment” while undergoing a series of field sobriety tests. His blood-alcohol concentration level was .16, police said. Initially jailed, he has since been released on $5,000 bail.

In another case, a witness called Old Lycoming Township police to report seeing a woman, later identified as Staci Kay Stone, staggering to her 1996 Land Cruiser and driving in the area of Lycoming Creek Road and Mill Lane about 3:45 p.m. on Nov. 5, according to an affidavit. An officer soon spotted the vehicle as the driver was heading west on Mill Lane, and the woman was pulled over at Ridge and Lacomic streets in the township.

Stone, 60, handed her license to the officer and asked him why she was “pulled over in front of her neighbors as she gestured to the road we were on,” the court document stated. It turned out that she lives about two west of the where the vehicle stop took place, police said. Stone, of 161 High Pines Road, performed “unsatisfactory” during a series of field sobriety tests, “displaying signs of impairment,” police added. Charged with DUI, Stone, who had a blood-alcohol concentration level of .29, has been sent a summons to appear before a district judge.

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