Abington Township Police Department Photo by James Short.
An Abington hit-and-run accident results in driving under the influence (DUI) charges for one Philadelphia man.
On Saturday, Nov. 2 around 9:18 p.m., Abington Township Police Department was dispatched to a two-vehicle accident in the area of Old York Road at Maplewood Avenue within the township, said the police criminal complaint. Upon arrival, police said they spoke with a witness who said while he was traveling northbound on Old York Road, a vehicle attempted to merge into his lane of traffic and struck his vehicle.
Police reported that the striking vehicle did not stop at that time, but rather continued down Old York Road until the area of the 100 block of East Moreland Road, where police were able to make contact with the driver.
Joseph Kelly, 65, of the 6500 block of North 21st Street, Philadelphia, was identified as the striking vehicle’s driver, police said. When asked if he knew what happened, Kelly said he did not know and was not sure how he was involved, said the complaint.
Police said that, while conversing with Kelly, he had a strong odor of alcoholic beverage coming from his breath. He was “not making any sense, slurring some of his words, and appeared to be disoriented,” police said. When asked how much he’d had to drink, Kelly reportedly told police “one beer.”
According to the criminal complaint, police asked Kelly to perform field sobriety tests, but Kelly declined. Based on their observations, police placed Kelly in custody for suspicions of DUI. Kelly was taken to Holy Redeemer Hospital for a chemical test of his blood, police said. Once there, he consented, police said. Kelly’s blood tests showed his blood alcohol level (BAC) to be at a concentration of 0.169% and that he had traces of marijuana, a controlled schedule I drug, in his system, police said.
Kelly is charged with an accident involving damage to an attended vehicle, DUI, DUI of the highest rate (BAC of .16+), DUI of a controlled substance, DUI of a combination of drugs and alcohol, and the related summary offenses, including failing to stop to render aid, disregarding traffic lane, and careless driving.
Kelly is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Feb. 13 at 9 a.m. before Magisterial District Judge John D. Kessler.
All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using public court records.
