Jul 1, 2014 2 min read

State police said a South Strabane Township man was driving drunk with his 4-year-old daughter riding next to him and cocaine hidden inside the vehicle.

Walter Garber, 35, was driving on Allison Avenue shortly after midnight May 31 when a state police trooper heading in the other direction said he saw Garber’s sport-utility straddling the center line.

Garber continued to drive recklessly, police said, before he was stopped at Tyler and Donnan avenues in Washington. That’s when police said they found Garber’s 4-year-old daughter in the front seat of the SUV.

Police said Garber, who was driving on a suspended license for a previous DUI, smelled of alcohol and admitted to officers he drank four beers before getting behind the wheel to pick up medication for his girlfriend. Garber did not tell police why he brought his daughter with him.

Police said Garber failed field-sobriety tests and had a blood-alcohol content of 0.161 percent, which is twice the legal limit in Pennsylvania.

Investigators also said they found a white, powdery substance in a cigarette container inside the vehicle that later tested positive as cocaine.

Garber, of 275 Wilbert Ave., was charged Tuesday with driving under the influence, possession of a controlled substance and driving on a suspended license, along with several traffic citations. A date for Garber’s preliminary hearing has not been set.

Garber pleaded guilty to DUI, fleeing from police and driving on a suspended license following a February 2010 arrest.