Vehicle damage leads to arrest for damaging garage
The damage was a tip-off. The smoke and sparks were a giveaway.
Butler police said that soon after they noticed the conspicuous-looking Jeep Cherokee around midnight Monday, they arrested the driver for a hit-and-run accident that happened a short time earlier.
Police believe Marco A. Cantera, 20, of Butler did not stop after the Jeep he was driving ran into a garage in the 400 block of West Brady Street.
Cantera was also more than 2½ times the state's legal limit for alcohol, police said.
Lt. Brian Grooms said he was on patrol when he saw the red Jeep eastbound on Lincoln Avenue near Center Avenue. The vehicle had severe front-end damage and had “sparks and smoke coming from the engine,” the officer noted in his affidavit.
As he prepared to make a traffic stop, Grooms got a radio call about the hit-and-run accident. The suspect vehicle, according to court documents, was a red Jeep.
Police said it struck a garage, knocking the building off its foundation.
Cantera did not immediately pull over for police. Instead, he is accused of driving back to his home on Lincoln Avenue. A family member owns the Jeep, police said.
He was soon arrested for drunken driving and taken to the station for a breath test, which showed his blood-alcohol level was 0.213 percent. In Pennsylvania, a level of 0.08 percent is considered intoxicated.
Cantera was arraigned on charges of driving under the influence, hit-and-run, driving without a license and underage drinking. He is free on $1,500 bail.
