The Herald, Sharon, Pa.

Local News

July 19, 2012

Blood test admitted, shows tractor driver was drunk

By Courtney L. Saylor -----

WEST SALEM TOWNSHIP — Eric M. Landfried was drunk when he was driving a lawn tractor pulling children in a trailer, according to a blood test taken when he was being treated for his injuries after the tractor flipped.

Landfried, 458 Kinsman Road, West Salem Township, refused chemical testing at the scene of the June 15 wreck along South Barry Road at Vernon Road, police said.

Assistant District Attorney Miles Karson Jr. said a search warrant for Landfried’s blood work from the hospital showed he had a blood alcohol content of 0.186 percent after the accident – more than twice the legal limit for motorists in Pennsylvania.

Landfried’s attorney David Melesky objected to using the test as evidence saying it violated his client’s medical privacy.

District Judge Brian Arthur admitted the report into evidence and allowed Karson to add a charge of driving with the highest level of blood alcohol content to charges of drunken driving, six counts of endangering the welfare of children, driving an unregistered vehicle and driving without insurance.

Chelliza-Marie Lane, 11, was one of the kids on the hayride that went from Hickory Road to Barry and Vernon.

The girl testified that they had a cooler in the trailer containing beer and grape juice and that Landfried had swerved the tractor on the road earlier in the ride before doing it again just before the wreck.

“I thought he was just doing it for fun,” Chelliza-Marie said.

She said the tractor started to go faster and she got scared.

“Then I don’t know what happened. I ended up on the ground but I don’t know how,” Chelliza-Marie said.

She said another child also fell out and her brother John jumped out.

Chelliza-Marie’s arm was bleeding and she showed the judge and lawyers the mark from the cut on the inside of her right arm.

Greenville-West Salem Township patrolman Jon P. Wagner said when he arrived, the tractor was on its side in a ditch and the trailer was tipped into the ditch.

Landfried was in an ambulance when Wagner spoke to him and Landfried said he’d had “nothing” alcoholic to drink, though Wagner said he smelled of alcohol.

Landfried suffered a head wound in the wreck, Melesky said.

“There was blood all over him.” Wagner said.

Melesky, who objected to testimony, questioning and rulings numerous times during the hearing, noted that none of the parents of any of the six children riding in the trailer went to police with concerns.

“Whether parents complained is irrelevant to whether children were endangered,” Karson said.

Arthur held all the charges against Landfried to common pleas court.

Landfried is free on his own recognizance and was ordered to undergo a drug and alcohol evaluation.

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