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College student walks into a car, police say

A Slippery Rock University student was high on drugs when he walked onto a road and into the side of a car, apparently injuring himself, authorities said.

SRU police said they later found 19-year-old Daniel James Harper of Pittsburgh with suspected LSD following the unusual accident Oct. 6.

Police last week charged Harper with possession of a controlled substance, reckless endangerment, disorderly conduct and public drunkenness.

A reported vehicle collision at 7:19 p.m. on Harmony Road in front of the Robert A. Macoskey Center sent emergency crews to the scene, according to court documents. But campus police discovered this was not a typical fender bender.

Michael Beels told police that he was driving south on Harmony Road when a man ran into his car. The vehicle was undamaged, police said, but the impact folded in the passenger side mirror.

The man eventually got into the passenger side of a pickup truck. Moments earlier, police said, the pickup driver had stopped to make sure everyone was all right.

Once in the truck, the stranger told the driver, “Take me to the hospital,” according to a police affidavit.

Police said they recognized the man as Harper, who they say had been involved in a traffic accident earlier in the day.

The defendant appeared “animated” and “agitated,” documents said, while speaking to police, and he repeatedly told an officer to take him to the hospital.

At one point, police said, he tried to leave and the officer had to grab his arm to prevent him from walking back onto the road. He was eventually handcuffed, in part, for his own safety.

Police said when they opened his wallet, they found a small piece of folder paper that appeared to contain two stamp bags of LSD. He admitted having “done acid” earlier, documents said.

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