Police: Driver left his car on tracks driver
SUMMIT TWP — State police say a drunken driver abandoned his crashed car on railroad tracks and walked away without telling authorities.
A trooper had to use his own patrol vehicle last week to remove the damaged car from the tracks in Summit Township before an approaching train got there.
Craig L. Hayden, 42, of Center Township is facing felony and other charges in the case. He is free on his own recognizance.
Police said they were called about 10:30 p.m. Oct. 9 for a report of a one-vehicle crash on Bonniebrook Road at Easbrook Lane and found the defendant's 2003 Chevrolet Monte Carlo disabled on railroad tracks.
A police dispatcher notified Trooper Matthew Stimac that a train was approaching and would be there in less than 30 minutes, according to court documents.
Stimac got the car off the tracks and began looking for the driver. Police found Hayden about midnight walking in the area of Henricks Road and Glenwood Way in Center Township.
The defendant was arrested for public intoxication and taken to the barracks in Butler Township, where he refused to take a breath test.
He was arraigned on a felony charge of risking a catastrophe, misdemeanor charges of driving under the influence and criminal mischief and a summary charge of public drunkenness.
Additionally, he is charged with 11 traffic violations among those including hit-and-run, failing to immediately notify police of an accident, failing to stop and render aid or give information after an accident, abandoning a vehicle on public or private property and failing to activate hazard lights.
