Anthony M. Cousins

SAXONBURG — Citing her concern for the public and his own client, District Judge Sue Haggerty rejected an attorney's plea that a two-time suspected drugged driver be allowed to walk out of her courtroom a free man Wednesday.

Moments earlier, Haggerty had arraigned Anthony M. Cousins, 24, of Franklin Township on charges that he was high on cocaine and opiates last month when he caused a head-on crash in Penn Township, leaving the other driver seriously injured.

Minutes before the arraignment, Cousins waived his preliminary hearing at Haggerty's office in Saxonburg on drugged driving charges stemming from a December traffic stop in Jefferson Township.

State police also disclosed that they were called to Cousins' home last week after he apparently overdosed.

“I have concerns for yourself and the public,” Haggerty told Cousins in response to his attorney's request that he be given unsecured bail that would keep him out of jail pending his cases.

Instead, she set a combined bail of $15,000. At the end of the court proceedings, Cousins was taken away in handcuffs to Butler County Prison.