Nearly a Dozen DUIs and Assaults in Solehi

COOPERSBURG

Name: Steven Michaels

DOB: 8/12/60

Address: Coopersburg

Date of Arrest:  4/14/11

Location of incident: Coopersburg

Summary: According to the criminal complaint, police were dispatched after a witness called to report a car “almost struck a home, a parked car, and almost drove up on the curb” near 22 N. Main St. Police observed a man (later identified at Michaels) walking away from a silver Nissan. Police made contact with Michaels and allegedly observed “very glassy bloodshot eyes, very slurred speech, and the inability to stand or walk without swaying or stumbling.” While trying to interview Michaels, he allegedly charged officers in a violent manner and demanded to know why he was being questioned.

During the interview, Michaels allegedly kept getting louder and louder. After numerous warnings, an officer approached Michaels, at which point Michaels allegedly yelled “F**k this, I don’t need this s**t,” while pushing the officer away. Both officers were needed to take Michaels into custody. He kept resisting arrest by stiffening his body and pulling his arms under his body.

Charge:

1.     Disorderly conduct

2.     Harassment with physical contact

3.     Resisting arrest

4.     Public drunkenness

Name: Christopher C. Yurick

DOB: 10/4/65

Address: Allentown

Date of Arrest:  3/15/11

Location of incident: 5100 block of Route 309

Summary: According to the criminal complaint, Upper Saucon police officers were called to assist a Springfield Township officer with a vehicle on the side of the road. Springfield Township police “observed the vehicle stopped in traffic for no apparent reason on Route 309 north at East Passer Rd. [The officer] then observed the vehicle travel north on Route 309 and in the area of Route 378 he observed the vehicle veer off the roadway leaving the lane of travel.” After Upper Saucon police made contact with the driver of the vehicle [later identified as Yurick], they immediately saw a 24-ounce can of Busch Light beer in plain sight. Yurick was administered three field sobriety tests and failed all three. The field Breathalyzer had a reading of 0.13 percent (the legal limit is 0.08 percent). Yurick was taken into custody for further testing at the station. Police state that after searching the car, two more 24-ounce cans of Busch Light beer were found.

Charge:

1.     DUI-General Impairment **Third Offinse**

2.     DUI-High Rate of Alcohol (At least 0.10% and less than 0.16% or two times legal limit)

3.     Restriction on alcoholic beverages in a motor vehicle

4.     Careless Driving

5.     Failure to drive within the lane

Name: Nancy Howe

DOB: 1/10/55

Address: Coopersburg

Date of Arrest:  3/29/11

Location of incident: Route 309 south at Route 378

Summary: According to the criminal complaint, Upper Saucon police were dispatched to an accident at Route 309 south at Route 378. Upon arrival, police observed a Ford Taurus and a Nissan Maxima pulled to the side of the road. After investigating, police found that at the stop light, the Taurus failed to stop and collided with the back of the Maxima. While talking to the driver of the Taurus [identified as Howe], police allegedly observed that her speech was slurred and at times incoherent. Police also stated that they “detected a strong odor of alcoholic beverages emanating from her person.” Police administered three field sobriety test. Howe failed two of the three. A field Breathalyzer registered a 0.12 percent (over the legal limit).

Charge:

1.     DUI-General impairment **first offense**

2.     DUI-High rate of alcohol

3.     Careless driving

Name: Anthony Sparango

DOB: 10/14/84

Address: Quakertown

Date of Arrest:  3/18/11

Location of incident: Peppercorn Pub, Upper Saucon

Summary: According to the criminal complaint, Upper Saucon police were called to the Peppercorn Pub for a reported assault. When police arrived, they found a male and female standing in the parking lot. Police identified the victim as the male and noted that he was bleeding from the left side of his mouth. Police state he was yelling that Sparango had punched him in the face. The victim stated he had been in the pub talking to his girlfriend (identified as the female in the parking lot) when two men came up to him and started arguing with him about how he was treating his girlfriend. During the course of the argument with one of the males (who was not charged), the second male (later identified as Sparango) punched him in the left side of his face. Police used Facebook pictures to help the victim identify the men involved in the argument.

Police later found out that the victim’s jaw was broken.

Police contacted the two men, one of them being Sparango. The men stated that they walked up to the victim because the victim was yelling and hitting his girlfriend at the Peppercorn Pub. Sparango admitted to shoving the victim, but denied hitting him.

The girlfriend and witnesses at the pub denied that the victim had hit his girlfriend.

Charge:

1.     Simple Assault

2.     Harassment

LOWER MILFORD

Name: Robert Paul Quinby Jr.

DOB: 11/12/74

Address: Coopersburg

Date of Arrest:  3/10/11

Location of incident: Limeport Pike, Lower Milford Township

Summary: According to the criminal complaint, state police were dispatched to an accident on Limeport Pike. After arriving, police observed three cars involved. The complaint goes on to say, “Roadway conditions at the time of the crash were wet. Unit #1 [later identified as Quinby’s vehicle] was traveling at a speed greater than was reasonable under the conditions, crossed the westbound lane, exited the road…struck a tree, rolled over one time clockwise, traveled an additional 30 feet, and hit Unit #2 [a second car]. Unit #2…impacted Unit #3. Both #2 and #3 were parked in the driveway of a residence at the time.”

When police approached Quinby after the crash, they allegedly smelled alcohol on his “facial area,” as well as observing slurred speech. After giving Quinby a series of field sobriety tests, he was taken into custody for a blood draw. Lab results showed a blood-alcohol level of 0.12 percent two hours after being taken into custody.

Charge:

1.     Driving under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance

2.     DUI-High rate of alcohol (more than 0.10 percent and less than 0.16 percent in system two hours after being pulled over)

3.     Driving on roadways laned for traffic

4.     Driving at a safe speed

5.     Careless driving

Name: Gerald William Custer II

DOB: 5/5/51

Address: Pocatello, Idaho

Date of Arrest:  4/16/11

Location of incident: Limeport Pike, Lower Milford

Summary: According to the criminal complaint, police were dispatched to a two-vehicle crash with injuries on Limeport Pike. Upon arrival, officers observed a Ford Explorer with Idaho plates and a Ford Focus. Police approached the driver of the Explorer (later identified as Custer) while emergency personnel attended to the driver of the Focus. Police began to question Custer, who was wearing a neck collar allegedly for breaking his neck three weeks earlier. The complaint states, “He had glassy, bloodshot eyes and slurred, incoherent speech. I asked him to exit the vehicle, but he was very unsure of his footing and almost fell several times.” After investigating the scene, police determined the Explorer driven by Custer failed to yield at a stop sign and “T-boned” the Focus on the passenger side.

Charge:

1.     Driving under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance

2.     Failure to stop and/or yield at a stop sign

3.     Vehicle entering or crossing roadway

4.     Careless driving

UPPER SAUCON

Name: Haneef Ahmed Muttaqi

DOB: 6/1/80

Address: Northampton

Date of Arrest:  3/26/11

Location of incident: I-78 eastbound at mile marker 62.5

Summary: According to the criminal complaint, state police initiated a traffic stop after observing a gray Saab with a non-functioning talk/brake light. After making contact with the driver (later identified at Muttaqi), officers observed a “moderate odor of marijuana emanating from [Muttaqi].” When asked if he had been smoking marijuana, Muttaqi allegedly said yes.

Police then conducted a series of field sobriety tests. Based on the outcome of those tests, Muttaqi was brought to the station for blood work to measure the level of intoxication.

Charge:

1.     Driving under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance

2.     Careless driving

3.     Motor vehicle not equipped with a rear-lighting system

Name: Kevin Westley Martin

DOB: 9/5/86

Address: Beech Island, SC

Date of Arrest:  4/13/11

Location of incident: Promenade Shops at Saucon Valley

Summary: According to the criminal complaint, Upper Saucon police observed a vehicle parked at the Promenade Shops after the area was closed. After approaching the vehicle, the officer made contact with the driver (later identified as Martin) and his female passenger. The officer, who was called to another incident while speaking with Martin and the passenger, advised them that the mall was closed and to move on.

When the officer returned to the area, he observed the car was still there. The officer approached the car again. This time, while the officer tried to speak with Martin, “he kept blaring the music in the car and the female passenger kept turning it down.”

The police shift supervisor arrived to try to contact Martin by tapping him on the shoulder. Martin then allegedly “struck [the officer’s] hand” at which point he was advised he was under arrest. The complaint states that the supervising officer sustained a sprained middle finger from the strike. Martin resisted attempts to be handcuffed. An inventory of the car found a bowl “used for ingesting marijuana with marijuana residue in it.”

Charge:

1.     Aggravated assault of an officer-Felony

2.     Simple assault

3.     Resisting arrest-Felony

4.     Possession with intent to use drug paraphernalia

5.     Disorderly conduct

6.     Harassment with physical contact

Name: Nicholas Mitchel Lott

DOB: 1/6/86

Address: Riegelsville

Date of Arrest:  2/16/11

Location of incident: I-78 westbound at exit 60B (309)

Summary: According to the criminal complaint, state police observed a westbound black Honda Accord crossing to exit the highway without using proper signals. When police pulled the vehicle over and approached it, they allegedly “detected the strong odor of an alcoholic beverage inside the vehicle and observed that the Lott’s [identified as the driver] eyes were bloodshot.” When asked how much he had to drink, Lott allegedly replied “two or three” and allegedly confirmed he had been drinking beer as well as taking a Xanax earlier in the day. Both field tests and Breathalyzers indicated the presence of impairment.

Charge:

1.     Driving under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance (alcohol)

2.     Driving under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance (Xanax)

3.     Turning movements and required signals (didn’t give appropriate signal)

Name: Maria Torres-Molestina

DOB: 12/27/74

Address: Macungie

Date of Arrest:  3/25/11

Location of incident: Corporate Parkway east

Summary: According to the criminal complaint, Upper Saucon police were called to an accident with an airbag deployed. Police observed a vehicle’s taillights off the roadway in the area of a dead end and that the driver was unable to open the door due to vehicle damage. Police freed the driver [identified as Torres-Molestina], who stated she was traveling east on Corporate Parkway and “somehow managed to strike a concrete block…but was unable to remember how.” Police stated they smelled alcohol on Torres-Molestina’s breath and that her eyes were glassy and bloodshot. When questioned, Torres-Molestina allegedly admitted to consuming a lot of alcohol at the restaurant Melt. Torres-Molestina failed three field sobriety tests and was administered a Breathalyzer test, which registered 0.296 (more than three-and-a-half times the legal limit).

Charge

1.     DUI- highest rate (tested higher than two times the legal limit two hours after arrest)

2.     DUI-general impairment

3.     Careless driving

4.     Driving vehicle at a safe speed

5.     Stop-sign violation

6.     Failure to drive within the lane of traffic

Name: Austin Sullivan Bean

DOB: 8/17/90

Address: Emmaus

Date of Arrest:  4/2/11

Location of incident: Limeport Pike, Upper Saucon Township

Summary: According to the criminal complaint, the driver of a Volkswagen Jetta, later identified as Bean, was in physical control of the Jetta on Limeport Pike while under the influence of alcohol. Pennsylvania law prohibits those under age 21 to have any amount of alcohol in their system while driving, unlike the .08 percent or lower for those 21 and over.

Charge:

1.     DUI-General Impairment

2.     DUI-Minor

3.     Possession of alcohol by a minor

4.     Minor prohibited from operating a vehicle with any alcohol in system