TimesLeader.com

Noxen man waives fatal DUI hearing

WILKES-BARRE - A Noxen man accused of drunken driving and causing a fatal vehicular crash that claimed the life of a Plains Township fire captain waived his right to a preliminary hearing in Central Court on Monday.

Tommy James Patton, 31, waived charges of homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence, accidents involving death, driving under the influence and several traffic offenses to Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas.

Wilkes-Barre police and the Luzerne County district attorney's office alleged Patton was legally drunk when he crashed his Dodge Dakota pickup truck into an Isuzu driven by Robert J. Kubicki, 60, at Wilkes-Barre Boulevard and Butler Street on April 1.

Kubicki died from his injuries.

Authorities claim in arrest records that Patton had a blood alcohol level of 0.226 percent.

An adult driver in Pennsylvania is legally intoxicated with a BAC of 0.08 percent.