Aug 23, 2017 2 min read

A Bethel Park woman who was teaching herself how to drive a standard transmission while under the influence of alcohol saw her plan fizzle when she jumped out of the moving car and it crashed into a parked pickup truck last month, Carroll Township police allege.

Police said the car initially driven by Linda M. Powell, 41, pushed the truck into a garage and spun it around, causing it to strike another parked vehicle at 215 Lewis Ave. about 8:25 p.m. July 29.

Powell wasn’t at the crash scene when police arrived there and met with victims Christopher Willis and Megan Huffman. They did tell police the car that caused the damage had been parked next door, the affidavit indicates.

A few minutes later the officer noticed a blond woman walking down the hill beside a man in a wheelchair, who later was indentified as Mathew McGuire Jr.

The woman with him was identified as Powell, and she said the car belonged to her boyfriend, who was in jail at the time. She told the officer she decided to start its engine to charge the battery.

However, McGuire said Powell was driving the car and jumped out of it after she lost control of the vehicle, court records allege. The car owned by Justin Reed was parked at 216 Lewis Ave. with the intention that it was not to be moved, police indicated.

Powell also had a large scrape on her left arm, an injury that backed up McGuire’s statements, the record shows.

Police charged her with driving under the influence of alcohol, driving with a suspended license and operating a vehicle without having insurance.

The charges were filed Monday before District Judge Larry Hopkins.