Driver arrested twice in 1 day
State police, 1. City police, 1.
The two departments in separate traffic stops arrested a Butler man for alleged drunken driving — on the same day less than one half-mile apart.
When Butler police caught 26-year-old Jonathan J. Dillingham the second time June 1, they said, his blood-alcohol level was more than three times the state's legal limit for alcohol.
Each department filed its own case Monday against the defendant at the office of District Judge William Fullerton in Butler. Dillingham is in Butler County Prison on a probation violation.
A patrol trooper was the first to stop Dillingham around 3:40 p.m. when he noticed the suspect's minivan was missing a front bumper, police said. The suspect was stopped on Broad Street.
The trooper smelled alcohol coming from the van, according to charging documents, and he saw an open can of beer behind the driver's seat.
The defendant was arrested after failing field sobriety tests, and taken to the barracks for a breath test, which showed his blood-alcohol level was 0.156 percent. A level of 0.08 percent is considered intoxicated under state law.
Dillingham was eventually released, but later that day he was back on the road behind the wheel of the same van.
This time, a city patrolman caught up to the defendant on the 300 block of North Main Street after receiving a call for a possibly intoxicated driver.
The officer smelled alcohol, documents said, and Dillingham made the unsolicited statement that he had been “drinking all day.”
Police also found two open beer cans and a bag of suspected marijuana in the center console. Later, a more thorough search of the van turned up two small rocks of suspected crack cocaine and a crack pipe.
He was arrested again after allegedly being unable to complete field sobriety tests. He was hauled off to the city police station for a breath test. This time, police said, his reading was 0.249 percent
Dillingham is charged with two separate cases of DUI. In the city case, he also is charged with possession of a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia.
