SAXONBURG — A Sarver man faces a hearing next month on charges he was impaired on drugs when he drove to an unrelated court hearing last month.

The troubles of 36-year-old Joseph A. Seybert began in February when state police cited him for throwing two Burger King bags filled with wrappers from a vehicle into a yard in Clinton Township.

On May 7, police said, he drove to District Judge Sue Haggerty's office in Saxonburg for an afternoon summary trial in the littering case. Cpl. Michael Schmidt, who had cited Seybert, was already there.

The officer was getting out of his cruiser when he saw the defendant drive into the parking lot. He knew Seybert's license was previously suspended.

At the office, according to court documents, Schmidt spoke to Seybert, asking the defendant if he had an attorney. He suspected Seybert was under the influence.

Field sobriety tests, police said, subsequently bolstered those suspicions.

But Seybert told the Butler Eagle on Friday that he was not impaired. He said his wife videotaped the field sobriety testing on her cell phone, which he asserted showed no impairment. He also claimed the officer was “profiling” him.

“Because he knew I had a DUI for being on methadone and marijuana on April 20,” Seybert said, referring to a state police traffic stop in Buffalo Township that led to a previous drugged driving arrest.

Additionally, Seybert questioned why the officer on May 7 waited until after the summary trial to conduct the field sobriety tests.

The defendant was eventually taken for a blood test that showed he had benzoylecgonine, which is a metabolite of cocaine, and methadone in his system, documents said.

Seybert said he has a prescription for methadone, which he takes daily at the RHJ Medical Center in Vandergrift, Westmoreland County. He said he took his prescribed dose that day between 5:30 and 6 a.m.

Seybert insisted that was the only drug he took.

“I thought I was OK to drive since I had consumed no other drugs that day,” he said.

Seybert noted that his wife rode with him to his summary trial. She, too, denied he was impaired. They said the officer had no basis to suspect he was driving on drugs.

Police on June 5 charged him with driving under the influence of controlled substance, driving with a suspended license, driving without a license, careless driving and not wearing a seat belt.

His preliminary hearing in the criminal case is set for July 18 at Haggerty's office,

As for Seybert's summary trial, Haggerty found him guilty of scattering rubbish. He was ordered to pay $266.25 in fines and court costs.

And in the previous DUI case at Haggerty's office, the defendant on Wednesday waived his preliminary hearing on all charges.