Suspected drunk driver has recent DUI sentence
ADAMS TWP — Less than three weeks after being sentenced for driving drunk, a Jefferson Township man was arrested — again — Monday for allegedly driving under the influence.
Joseph R. Hart, 60, landed in the Butler County Prison following his latest brush with the law.
Adams Township police said Hart was nearly three times the state's legal limit for alcohol around 4:30 p.m. when they found him at the GetGo store on Warrendale Road. A welfare check for a man acting strangely led officers to the store.
Hart, who appeared to be impaired, told police he was on his way to work at the U.S. Postal Service bulk mail center in Warrendale.
Officers also found Hart's pickup, which was still running, in the parking lot, police said.
He was subsequently arrested for suspicion of DUI and taken to UPMC Passavant in Cranberry Township for a blood test, which allegedly showed his blood-alcohol level was 0.222 percent. In Pennsylvania, a level of 0.08 percent is considered intoxicated.
District Judge Bill O'Donnell arraigned Hart on charges of DUI and public drunkenness. He was placed in the Butler County Prison in lieu of $10,000 bond.
O'Donnell also imposed bail conditions, including that Hart be released to the county probation office for pretrial supervision and that he wear an ankle bracelet that alerts law enforcement and probation and parole officers when the person wearing the device consumes alcohol.
His preliminary hearing is scheduled for Dec. 17 at the office of District Judge Wayne Seibel in Evans City.
Court records showed that Middlesex Township police arrested Hart for drunken driving April 24. His blood-alcohol level was 0.16 percent, according to court documents.
He subsequently pleaded guilty to DUI and was sentenced Nov. 22 to six months on the county's Intermediate Punishment Program. His sentencing order noted that he successfully completed 22 days in an inpatient drug and alcohol treatment program.
Records listed Robert Andrews Jr. as Hart's attorney in the prior DUI case. He did not return a telephone call Tuesday.
