Some charges dropped in chase case
BUTLER TWP — A Butler man accused of ramming a trooper's cruiser after leading police on a chase waived to court Thursday most of his charges, including a pair of felonies.
Prosecutors, however, withdrew two other criminal charges — one a felony — that accused David R. Coleman, 50, of Butler of driving while impaired at the time.
Those charges were withdrawn, said Terri Schultz, a county assistant district attorney, after toxicology reports indicated that Coleman was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
Still, he faces a top count of aggravated assault on a police officer.
State police arrested the defendant following the alleged chase that began in Butler about 4:30 p.m. March 30 when investigators say he allegedly ran a stop sign.
A city police officer activated his emergency lights but Coleman is accused of failing to stop. He continued driving his sport utility vehicle into Butler Township.
State police and Butler Township police were called to assist.
Coleman eventually made his way onto Whitestown Road in Butler Township and traveled around a marked city police car.
He intentionally rammed a cruiser driven by Trooper Kevin Goss, according to court documents. Goss was injured and taken to Butler Memorial Hospital.
Police have declined to discuss the trooper's injuries.
Following the crash, which also damaged a home's mailbox and stone wall, police found that a 13-year-old boy, a relative of Coleman's, was riding in the vehicle.
Police say they also found an open beer can in the vehicle's cup holder.
Coleman was taken to the Butler hospital for a blood draw. Toxicology results were still pending when police filed the case that consisted of 16 charges.
He was placed in Butler County Prison on $100,000 bail following his arraignment.
<br />District Judge Kevin O'Donnell on April 12 dismissed the initial case when the investigating trooper, who was at a training conference in Harrisburg, did not appear in court for a preliminary hearing.The dismissal also vacated Coleman's bail and allowed him to get out of jail.But police April 13 refiled the original charges. He subsequently turned himself in on the refiled case.This time Coleman's bail was set at $25,000. He later posted bail and was released on house arrest that requires him to wear an electronic monitoring device.Coleman on Thursday opted to give up his right to a preliminary hearing on the advice of his attorney, public defender Joseph Smith, who learned that prosecutors were withdrawing three charges.The withdrawn charges include a felony count of aggravated assault by vehicle while driving under the influence, a misdemeanor count of DUI and a summary count of driving with a suspended license while having a blood-alcohol level of 0.02 percent or greater.Those charges were dropped, Schultz said, because of what police told her the toxicology reports showed — a blood-alcohol level of about 0.01 percent, “or something like that.”A level of 0.08 percent is considered intoxicated under state law.“They thought he had consumed alcohol,” Schultz said, “but not to the level that we could charge him.”Reportedly, she also said, there were no drugs in Coleman's system.Smith, who has not seen any toxicology report, said he was pleased with the decision.“The evidence was not there,” he said, “to support the DUI and the charges related directly to the DUI.”In addition to aggravated assault, Coleman waived to court a felony count of fleeing or attempting to elude police, misdemeanor counts of child endangerment, reckless endangerment and resisting arrest and a list of other traffic violations.His next scheduled court appearance is June 5 when he will be formally arraigned in Butler County Court.
