Two Hurt in Suspected DUI Crash on Buckeye Road

A two-car crash Friday night on Buckeye Road left two people injured, one car stuck in a Buckeye Pipeline retention ditch and the other car, whose driver was suspected of being drunk, entangled in chain-link fence after hitting and breaking a utility pole.

A state police fax said the two injured people -- driver Ann L. Peaslee, 65, and passenger Eric P. Wertman, 68 -- were in one car. The other car carried only the driver -- Esteban Hernandez, 50, who was not hurt. All three have Macungie addresses.

Hernandez also has a history of traffic violations. Online court records show that since January 2011, he has been cited seven times -- not including Friday's crash -- for such infractions as driving without a license and without proof of inspection and running red lights. The incidents occurred in Allentown, Lower Macungie, Upper Macungie and Macungie, the records say.

In Friday's crash, according to the fax, Hernandez was suspected of being drunk and was driving with a suspended license. His 2006 Nissan Altima was going at a high rate of speed around 7:25pm as it approached the 1993 Honda Civic being driven by Peaslee westbound on Buckeye near Tank Farm Road in Upper Milford.

The Altima's front bumper hit the Civic's rear bumper, causing both cars to spin clockwise. The Altima's rear driver's side door hit and broke a utility pole, while the Civic broke through the chain-link fence and came to rest in the Buckeye Pipeline retention ditch.

The Altima, still spinning, made secondary impact with the fence and came to rest entangled under it.

Peaslee and Wertman were taken by Macungie EMS to Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest with injuries of unknown severity.

In addition to charges involving drunken driving and driving with a suspended license, Hernandez was to be cited for violating the traffic law for driving vehicle at safe speed, the fax said.