Man faces OUI charge after nearly hitting Old Town apartments

A Cape Elizabeth man faces a drunken driving charge after he was found slumped over the steering wheel of a pickup truck that came within a few feet of hitting an apartment complex in Old Town early Sunday morning.

David Chandler Jones Jr., 20, also was charged with assault of a police officer after Officer Dana Andrews said Jones kicked him while he was trying to get him into a cruiser.

An Old Town rescue crew was the first on the scene at the Penobscot Riverhouse apartments on North Main Street shortly after 7 a.m. Sunday, but the medical call quickly turned into a police call when it was determined Jones was uninjured and suspected of being intoxicated. Andrews reported that Jones’ eyes were glassy and bloodshot, his speech was slurred, and there was a strong odor of alcohol on his breath.

The blue Chevrolet pickup truck had been driven over the sidewalk and came within four feet of striking the apartment building, Andrews noted.

Jones didn’t live there, but told police that he had been at the University of Maine, where he had been drinking with friends until they told him to leave because he had become too obnoxious.

Jones was unsteady on his feet and performed poorly on field sobriety tests, according to police. Placed in the back of the police cruiser, Jones began kicking the window when a wrecker came to tow his pickup truck, and he refused to pull his legs back in when Andrews opened the rear door. He told Andrews to cut his legs off and also said he was going to kill the officer, according to the report.

At Penobscot County Jail, Jones was allowed to call his mother, but then raised the phone as if to hit Andrews before he was wrestled to the floor by several officers.

His blood alcohol content registered 0.22 percent on the Intoxilyzer test, or nearly three times the legal limit of 0.08 percent.

Two women were slightly injured after the car they were in rolled over on the Kennebec Road in Hampden Wednesday evening.

Heather Deluck, 19, and Jessica Bailey, 20, both of Hampden, were still being evaluated at Eastern Maine Medical Center later Wednesday, according to a nursing supervisor. Deluck, the driver, suffered a cut on one of her hands and complained of pain in her neck, while Bailey complained of pain in her back and neck, reported Hampden police Officer Joseph Burke.

Deluck was heading East on the Kennebec Road when her car struck a slippery section. Burke said she overcorrected and struck a snowbank, causing the car to roll over onto its roof.

A Glenburn man stopped for erratic driving in Bangor early Tuesday morning admitted to having as many as five drinks and claimed he was on his way to work.

Joseph Getchell, 45, was charged with operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicants and summoned for improper plates after the license plate on the car he was driving was discovered to be expired and belonging on a different car.

Bangor police Lt. Steven Hunt followed Getchell’s car after learning its registration had expired and reported that the car was speeding on Ohio Street and was in the center of the road. The car didn’t pull over and continued at the same speed, even after Hunt put on the flashing blue lights. Getchell continued to drive a short ways after Hunt sounded the siren. Getchell eventually pulled over by St. Mary’s Catholic Church.

Bangor police Officer Rob Angelo investigated Getchell as a possible drunken driver, noting that the motorist’s speech was slurred. Getchell was difficult to understand and rambled on about work and about being a good driver and not being a criminal, according to the police report.

He told Angelo that he had had four or five drinks and that he was on his way to work. Angelo said that Getchell was unsteady on his feet during field sobriety tests and at one point walked into the back of the car and used the vehicle for support, according to the police report.

An Intoxilyzer test registered Getchell’s blood alcohol content at 0.21 percent, or nearly three times the legal limit of 0.08 percent.

– Compiled by NEWS reporter Doug Kesseli