May 28, 2013 3 min read

A Canonsburg man is facing his seventh drunken-driving charge in the last seven years after reportedly crashing into a motorcycle Saturday afternoon on Gladden Road in Canonsburg.

Police said Aubrey O’Dell McDaniels, 50, of 1115 McEwen Ave., crashed the van he was driving into the back of a motorcycle operated by Daniel D. Novak, 26, of 223 Thad St., Chartiers Township. The impact knocked Novak onto the hood of the van before he landed in a grassy area.

Novak, who refused treatment for injuries to his left knee and elbow, told Canonsburg police Sgt. Don Cross and Officer James Eckels he was slowing for a stop sign when he was hit from behind by the van.

McDaniels told police he was going to a store to get medication for his 83-year-old wife. Cross said both McDaniels and the van smelled strongly of an alcoholic beverage, although no open container was found inside the vehicle.

Cross said the registration on the van was expired. A rear passenger tire was flat, and Cross said it appeared McDaniels had been driving on the rim for some time. McDaniels tried to tell police it was a doughnut spare tire, but Cross said the wheel appeared to be for a regular-sized tire.

McDaniels reportedly became angry and argumentative with police when they informed him they were going to have his vehicle towed. Police said he also was belligerent with staff at Canonsburg General Hospital, where he was taken to have blood drawn to determine his alcohol level. Cross said McDaniels appeared highly intoxicated.

Police ran a records check on McDaniels and learned he is wanted on a bench warrant from Centre County courts. State police charged him with being a habitual DUI offender, having a blood-alcohol content greater than 0.02 percent while driving with a DUI-suspended license and having an open container stemming from a Feb. 6 incident in Worth Township. He was held for court on the charges May 15 in absentia after not appearing before a district judge for a preliminary hearing.

Court records also indicate he is facing a DUI charge in Bensalem Township, Bucks County, stemming from a March 3 incident. He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing in that case Thursday.

He also has pleaded guilty in Washington County Court to three DUI charges over a two-month period in 2011. He also was arrested twice by police in West View, Allegheny County, and once by Bethel Park police in the same 2011 time frame.

McDaniels was placed in Washington County Jail on the Centre County warrant. Canonsburg police will file charges after receiving the results from blood-alcohol testing.