The Cranberry Eagle
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 Article published January 23, 2013

Man faces hearing on DUI charge following accident
His SUV struck armored truck

Jim Smith
Butler Eagle

JACKSON TWP — A Lawrence County man faces a hearing next month on charges he was high on muscle relaxants when he crashed his sport utility vehicle into an armored truck in November
Jackson Township police said the suspect, Chad J. Haskin, 32, of New Castle, drove away about 10 a.m. Nov. 28 after he rear-ended the Garda truck at Routes 19 and 528.
Employees in the truck followed Haskin a short distance and forced him to pull over his 2007 Ford Explorer Sport Trac on North Main Street in Zelienople, police said.
Officers said when they got there Haskin was shaking and he had other telltale signs of being impaired. Police also noticed numerous pills on the driver’s seat and the floor.
Haskin acknowledged that the pills were muscle relaxants and painkillers, and he admitted taking several of the pills that day, according to court documents.
A search of the vehicle turned up 39 pills. Police said he did not have prescriptions for the drugs.
A certified police drug recognition expert later determined Haskin was under the influence, and he was taken to UPMC Passavant Cranberry for a blood test.
The toxicology report showed the presence of the muscle relaxant carisoprodol and its metabolite meprobamate, and the narcotic painkiller tramadol.
The amount of the drugs in his system were “well above therapeutic levels,” a police affidavit said.
Police charged Haskin with driving under the influence of a controlled substance, hit-and-run and 39 counts of possession of a controlled substance, all misdemeanors.
Additionally, he was cited for driving with a suspended license, driving without a license and driving at an unsafe speed.
A preliminary hearing is set Feb. 5 at the office of District Judge Wayne Seibel in Evans City.