Driver facing DUI after Monroe crash
A driver is facing a charge of driving under the influence (DUI) following a one vehicle crash. The arrest was one of three pending DUI arrests reported by state police at Lehighton.
Troopers said Thomas Baines, 49, of Gilbert, was driving a 1994 Chevrolet S10 pickup truck along Polk Township Road, in Polk Township, about 10:36 p.m. on Feb. 19 when the vehicle left the road and struck an embankment.
Troopers said alcohol is suspected in the crash. Damages were disabling to the truck and Baines was injured.
On Feb 16 about 7:55 p.m. Terry L. Ahner, 54, of Lehighton, was stopped along Canal St., in Franklin Township, Carbon County, for a traffic violation. At the stop Ahner was suspected of DUI. He was taken into custody and submitted to a breath test. Charges will be filed, troopers said.
On Feb. 20 about midnight Thomas Michael Payonk, 49, of Gore, Va., was stopped along Trachsville Hill Road at Pohopoco Drive, in Towamensing Township, Carbon County, for a traffic violation. Payonk was suspected of drunk driving and was taken to the Palmerton Hospital for a blood test. The DUI charge is pending the test results, troopers said.
