TimesLeader.com

Noxen man faces vehicular homicide, DUI

By Edward Lewis elewis@timesleader.com
Staff Writer

WILKES-BARRE TWP. – A Noxen man had a blood-alcohol level more than three times the legal limit when he caused a crash that claimed the life of a Plains Township fire captain on April 1, a prosecutor said Tuesday.

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Tommy James Patton, right, is escorted after being charged Tuesday.

Clark Van Orden/The Times Leader

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Tommy James Patton, 31, an unemployed welder, was charged with homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence, accident involving death, drunken driving and several vehicle offenses.

Police allege Patton’s pickup passed through a red traffic signal at Wilkes-Barre Boulevard and Butler Street, Wilkes-Barre, and collided with an Isuzu pickup driven by Robert J. Kubicki.

Kubicki, 60, of Plains Township, was killed in the crash.

Luzerne County Assistant District Attorney Michael T. Vough said Patton had a blood-alcohol level of .266 percent immediately after the crash. An adult driver in Pennsylvania is considered legally intoxicated with a BAC of 0.08 percent.

“It’s a tragic situation for the family,” Vough said. “He was drunk, under the influence. Obviously, Mr. Patton has some type of alcohol problem.”

Vough said Kubicki was on his way to the Plains Township Fire Department to cover a shift for a co-worker.

Patton was arraigned by District Judge Michael Dotzel in Wilkes-Barre Township and jailed at the county prison for lack of $20,000 bail. Patton said he was “sorry” as he was led away in handcuffs.

Vough said police learned Patton visited several taverns, bought six-packs of beer and drank at least 12 beers before the crash.

According to the criminal complaint filed by city police officers Steven Lada and Phil Myers, and county Detective Lt. Daniel Yursha:

Cassandra Lavelle told police she was southbound on Wilkes-Barre Boulevard and slowing for a red traffic signal at the intersection with Butler Street when a pickup passed her at a high rate of speed and cut in front of her. She said the truck passed through the red light and collided with another vehicle.

After the crash, Lavelle said, she approached Patton and overheard him saying to a passenger, Roy Hart, in Patton’s truck, “Dude, I am so (expletive) if I get a DUI,” and suggested to Hart that he should run.

Hart was overheard saying to Patton, “You think you’re (expletive); You may have killed the guy. You better stay.”

Other witnesses told police they witnessed Patton driving at a high rate of speed and failing to stop for the red traffic signal. A state police reconstruction of the crash determined Patton was traveling at 47 to 56 mph when he crashed into Kubicki’s vehicle, according to arrest records. The Wilkes-Barre Boulevard speed limit is 35 mph.