SHARPSVILLE —
A motorcyclist who witnessed a hit-and-run accident followed the driver, found him after he crashed a second time, and said the man admitted he was drunk and trying to avoid police.
A 911 call at 10:55 p.m. Wednesday dispatched Sharpsville police to an accident at Ridge Avenue and 14th Street. Witnesses told police the driver of a large pickup left the scene, and that a motorcyclist chased the pickup.
Police noticed a broken beer bottle in the road, and then they were dispatched to the 1300 block of Main Street, where the pickup driver was alleged to be. Police then found a black Chevrolet truck abandoned in a yard in the 1200 block of West Ridge Avenue.
That’s where police met up with the motorcyclist who followed the truck from the first accident location. The witness, whose name isn’t printed in the probable cause affidavit, told police the truck driver, later identified as Matthew J. Bernard, 29, of 8265 Sharon Mercer Road, Mercer, told him he didn’t want the law involved because he “was drunk and already has a previous DUI conviction.”
The witness believed Bernard to be intoxicated, noting he smelled of alcohol and was swaying. Bernard left his disabled truck when he noticed police in the area.
Police found both open and closed containers of alcoholic beverages in the truck behind the driver’s seat. Those containers matched the beer bottle that was found in the street at the original crash site.
An investigation showed Bernard had been speeding when he entered the curve on Ridge Avenue, lost control, crossed the center line, left the roadway and ultimately hit a fire hydrant.
Bernard is charged with general impairment, driving while suspended, trespassing by vehicle, causing an accident with damage to unattended property, failing to give police notice of an accident, an open container violation, abandoning a vehicle, reckless and careless driving, speeding and driving on the wrong side of the roadway.
Bernard turned himself in on Monday.
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