A suspected drunken driver told police that he was coming from an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting when he crashed into the back of another vehicle in Butler Township last fall.

Toxicology results would later allegedly show that Patrick A. King, 42, of Butler, was more than four-and-a-half times the state's legal limit for alcohol at the time of the crash.

Butler Township police charged King on Tuesday with driving under the influence, driving with a suspended license, driving without a license, driving too fast for conditions and careless driving.

The charges were filed in connection with a rear-end collision shortly before 9 p.m., Nov. 28, on Route 356. Police said the defendant was traveling east when his sport utility vehicle struck the other vehicle at a red light in the left turn lane.

The other driver, a 54-year-old Center Township woman, was waiting to make a left turn onto Hindman Road. She apparently was not injured. Both vehicles had to be towed.

King, who suffered minor injuries, appeared impaired, police said. He denied having consumed alcohol or drugs.

When an officer asked him where he was coming from, according to charging documents, he replied that he “had just left Trinity Church (in the township), where he had attended an AA meeting.”

Police eventually took King to Butler Memorial Hospital to be evaluated for injuries. He also consented to a blood test.

Toxicology results, police said, showed that his blood-alcohol level was 0.375 percent. In Pennsylvania, a level of 0.08 percent is considered intoxicated.

King's preliminary hearing was not immediately scheduled. Online court records did not list an attorney for him.