Wrong-way driver on highway charged
A Washington man who reportedly drove for about 10 miles on two interstates last month was charged Monday by state police with driving under the influence of alcohol and improperly entering a highway.
George Robert Lewis Jr., 50, of 115 North Ave., is also charged with failure to carry his driver’s license and registration, not having insurance, driving over a divider, failure to drive at a safe speed and reckless driving.
State police were on patrol about 3 a.m. Feb. 26 when they got a call from a dispatcher to be on the lookout for a silver vehicle going south on Interstate 79 north near the Meadow Lands exit at a high rate of speed. As troopers responded to that area, they received an update the driver was now going west on the eastbound side of Interstate 70.
Police spotted the vehicle traveling west on I-70 east about two miles east of the Taylorstown exit. Troopers in separate cruisers crossed the median and were able to stop Lewis’ sport utility vehicle. When the trooper told Lewis why he was being stopped, he reportedly had a puzzled look on his face and did not understand why he had been pulled over. Lewis was too intoxicated to perform a field sobriety test, police said.
Lewis was taken to Washington Hospital, where blood was drawn. The test showed his blood alcohol level was more than double the 0.08 limit presumed for intoxication.
The charges will be sent by summons from the office of District Judge Ethan Ward. Lewis is scheduled for a preliminary hearing before Ward April 21.