Wexford Man Charged with DUI After Crashing Into Utility Pole

A 43-year-old Wexford man was charged with DUI after he crashed into a utility pole on Babcock Boulevard in Pine Township, according to Northern Regional Police.

A preliminary hearing is set for July 29 for Joseph F. McCarthy III before Magisterial District Judge Regis Welsh Jr.

McCarthy was arrested June 14 for suspicion of DUI after a field sobriety test, police said.

“While speaking with McCarthy, I detected a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage emitting from his person. His eyes were also bloodshot and he was unsteady on his feet,” the Northern Regional police report states. “He later refused to submit to the blood draw for the chemical test.”

The 5:30 p.m. crash just south of Warrendale Road severely damaged and disabled McCarthy’s 2003 Ford Explorer, police said. Boff’s Towing retrieved the vehicle.

Police spoke with several witnesses who saw the crash or assisted McCarthy after the incident, the police report states.

One witness said he was traveling south on Babcock Boulevard when he observed McCarthy’s northbound vehicle drift slowly into the southbound lane and off the pavement. The vehicle then swerved to get back onto the road and struck the utility pole, said police.

Another witness said McCarthy’s vehicle was heading north on Babcock Boulevard at a normal speed when the driver veered onto the right berm then overcompensated and crossed into the left lane and into a utility pole, according to the police report.

tended to McCarthy and directed traffic when the area between Logan and Warrendale was closed, the report said.

“McCarthy was bleeding from his left eye area from lacerations below and above the eye. He also appeared to have a few small lacerations on his legs, shin area,” the police report said.

“He was advised by (McCandless-Franklin Park) EMS that he should go to the hospital to be evaluated because of the seriousness of the crash and that McCarthy’s head struck the windshield,” the report said.

McCarthy refused to be transported and signed EMS’s refusal form, according to the police report.