A year ago on St. Patrick's Day a man was arrested for DUI for the fourth time, after parking his vehicle in the left lane of the Pennsylvania Turnpike and causing a car crash, as reported by The Unionville Times.
After a two-day trial that concluded this past March 5, Chambersburg resident N.S., 34, was found guilty of driving under the influence. The jury spent one hour on its deliberations.
This is N.S.'s fourth conviction for DUI. According to Assistant District Attorney Michelle Frei, N.S. will be sentenced on April 11.
When N.S. parked his car in the passing lane of the turnpike it caused a crash, according to police records. Troopers reported that N.S. was "combative" with first-responders and refused to get out of his two-door 1999 Acura. The EMTs were forced to break through a window in his car to get him out, while his radio continued to blast loud music.
The criminal complaint read that due to N.S.'s stopped vehicle another driver crashed his own vehicle – as he narrowly missed crashing into N.S.
Furthermore, according to police, N.S. failed to maintain his footing, was confused and intoxicated. At the scene N.S. alleged that he wasn't in the accident and didn't understand why the police were questioning him about it.
N.S. was transported to Paoli Hospital, and had his blood drawn for DUI testing. A month later, on April 16, the test results showed that N.S. had JWH-122 and JWH-018 in his system. Both are synthetic drugs or cannabinoids.
Steve Kellis, N.S.'s attorney, argued that his client was disorientated because "he was in a state of shock" when interviewed at the scene by police.
According to PennsylvaniaMissing.com N.S. has been "missing" since July 27, 2009. The photograph used on the website shows N.S. with an unidentified woman and three little girls standing in front of a Christmas tree. The site further explains that N.S. was last seen in a 1999 Acura - the same car he was driving in the accident. The site asks that anyone that comes into contact with N.S. should contact the Pennsylvania State Police.
Both Kellis and Frei expressed no knowledge of N.S. being reported missing or that, according to Frei, he had ever "disappeared." Frei said that none of the court records mentioned a disappearance.
Franklin County Court records show that N.S. was in court in February 2010 – as he was facing his third charge of DUI. That April he was sentenced to prison for 10 days to 24 months.
Just a little over a month after his court supervision ended on February 8, N.S. received his fourth DUI.
An email was sent to PennsylvaniaMissing.com that has yet to be answered.
Frei commented on the jury's verdict, "The jury recognized that synthetic marijuana substantially impaired the defendant's ability to drive safely on our roadways. We are lucky that no one was seriously injured in this case."
Whether you have been charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, synthetic drugs or a prescription medication, contact a DUI attorney for help. An attorney that specializes in DUI, DWI, OUI and OWI will serve your needs the best.