Crime & Safety
Police: Suspected Drunken Driver's Vehicle Shears Off Utility Pole
Borough police say driver's blood-alcohol content almost three times higher than the legal limit.
Borough police say the vehicle of a suspected drunken driver left the roadway and sheared off a utility pole before coming to rest against a bridge underpass earlier this month.
A police fax says the blood-alcohol content of driver Kevin Carroll Roche, 59, was 0.21 percent. The legal limit is 0.08 percent.
The incident occurred at 9:30pm Dec. 5, a Thursday, on the 1500 block of Shimerville Road. The fax does not say if Roche was injured.
The fax lists Roche's address as "Powder Valley Road, Wescosville." But Lehigh County property records list all Powder Valley Road addresses as being in either Upper Milford Township or Lower Milford Township. Wescosville is in Lower Macungie Township.
Although the incident was earlier this month, charges were filed Monday (Dec. 16) with District Judge Donna Butler of Emmaus, online court records say. A summons for Roche also was issued Monday.
Roche is charged with two counts of driving under the influence -- one for having the highest intoxication rate (0.16 percent or higher) and the other for violating laws on driving safely.