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Police: York County woman charged with DUI after driving car into downed tree

YORK COUNTY — West Manchester Township Police have charged a 62-year-old York County woman with two counts of DUI and a traffic violation after they say s...
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YORK COUNTY — West Manchester Township Police have charged a 62-year-old York County woman with two counts of DUI and a traffic violation after they say she crashed her car into a tree — that had already been knocked over and was lying in the center of the road.

Marylyn A. Miele was charged on June 12 in connection to the incident, which occurred on May 29 at about 7:30 p.m. on Wolf’s Church Road in West Manchester Township.

Police say there was severe weather in the area at the time of the crash, and numerous trees and wires had been downed in the area.

According to police, an officer patrolling the 4100 block of Wolfs Church Road noticed a large tree on the road, blocking both lanes of travel. A red vehicle was trapped underneath the tree, facing east in the westbound lane, police say.

Witnesses told police they were in their front yard, trying to alert approaching motorists of the downed tree, when a red sedan traveling east failed to slow for their warning and drove directly into the downed tree. The vehicle became stuck in the debris, and the driver was unable to free the vehicle, despite numerous attempts to accelerate front and backward.

The driver eventually exited the vehicle and stood on the grass nearby, where witnesses stayed with her until police arrived, the witnesses reported.

Police then spoke to Miele, who claimed she noticed people standing by the road waving their arms as she approached. Their waving distracted her, Miele claimed, and she never saw the downed tree ahead, police say.

Miele was not injured and declined medical treatment at the scene, according to police.

While speaking with Miele, police say, the officer noticed the strong odor of alcohol on her breath and questioned her about it. After initially denying she’d had anything to drink, Miele eventually admitted to consuming a glass of wine with dinner at about 5:30 p.m., police say.

Police say the officer administered a preliminary breath test, which confirmed the presence of alcohol. Miele was then given a series of field sobriety tests, which indicated she was impaired, according to police.

Miele was taken into custody and transported to Central Booking, where she consented to have blood drawn at 8:44 p.m., police say.

When the blood test results were returned to police on June 12, it indicated Miele had a blood alcohol content of .089 percent, police say.

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