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KINGSTON TWP. —A director with the Wilkes-Barre Area School District was charged with drunken driving after township police allege he had a strong odor of an intoxicating beverage and had trouble keeping his balance during a traffic stop early Tuesday morning.
Township police charged Edward John Evans, 60, known as Ned Evans, with a misdemeanor count of driving under the influence. A criminal complaint was filed with District Judge James Tupper on Wednesday and mailed to Evans, who resides on Kidder Street, Wilkes-Barre.
“I screwed up, I messed up royally here,” Evans said Thursday afternoon. “I was stopped. I want to apologize to my family, to the community, of course to the school board and superintendent for making this mistake.”
Evans said he plans to cooperate with police and is expecting to lose his driving privileges for one year.
Asked about how the drunken driving charge will impact his school director responsibilities, Evans again apologized saying he “loves what I do.”
“There is no excuse at all, I messed up royally here,” Evans said. “I’m sorry to the voters who put me in office. I’m extremely sorry for what I did.”
Police allege Evans refused to submit to a blood-alcohol test at Wilkes-Barre General Hospital where he belittled officers and hospital security staff, the complaint says.
Evans won a seat on the nine-member panel in the 2013 general election. He retired from the district as a principal at Daniel J. Flood Elementary School.
According to the criminal complaint filed by township officers Michael Prokopchak and John Fuches:
Police monitoring traffic on state Route 309 spotted a Chevrolet Avalanche weaving from the driving lane into the passing lane just before 1 a.m. Tuesday. The driver of the vehicle stopped for a red traffic signal at Hillside Road. When the light turned green, the driver sat motionless for several seconds before accelerating.
As the driver continued south on Route 309, the vehicle swerved in the lane and drove over the fog line. Police stopped the driver in a parking lot along the state highway.
The driver was identified as Evans.
Police allege Evans “began to babble and made no sense.” Evans grabbed his wallet and flipped through it unable to locate his driver’s license, the complaint says.
Police noticed Evans’ driver’s license in the center console of the vehicle.
During the encounter, Prokopchak noted “a strong odor of an intoxicating beverage coming from (Evans)” as Evans stuttered and spoke with a slur to his speech, according to the complaint.
Police noted in the complaint Evans’ eyes were bloodshot and glossy.
Evans claimed he consumed two beers.
As Evans exited his vehicle, he held onto the door to maintain his balance and used the driver’s side to maintain his balance as he walked to the front of the vehicle, the complaint says.
Evans told police he had a bad hip, which prohibited Prokopchak from conducting a field sobriety test.
Police allege Evans was administered a portable breath test at which he pulled away from the device twice before it could capture the breath specimen, according to the complaint.
‘You guys both know I had more than two beers,” Evans allegedly told the officers.
Police arrested Evans on suspicion of driving under the influence and placed him in the rear seat of a cruiser.
Evans told Prokopchak he was “ruining his life and his family will be shamed because he is a Wilkes-Barre council member.” Prokopchak asked Evans what type of council member he was and Evans replied he served on the school board, the complaint says.
“You know how things go, the newspaper will get wind of this and it will be everywhere,” Evans allegedly told Prokopchak.
Police said Evans was transported to Wilkes-Barre General Hospital for a blood-alcohol test. While at the hospital, Evans became uncooperative and belligerent, asked to speak with an attorney, and insulted Fuches, Prokopchak and hospital security staff, the complaint says.
When police read Evans the implied consent warnings about the blood-alcohol test, Evans allegedly stated, “I already gave two breath tests so you guys already know I’m drunk. You know I pay all your salaries.”
Evans continued to belittle the officers, calling them a specific body part and saying they would be hearing from his attorney, according to the complaint.
Evans claimed he was manhandled in the parking lot, wanted hospital staff to take pictures of the back of his bicep, and told Fuches, “That his left (expletive) has more responsibility that Fuches’ entire body.”
Police allege in the complaint Evans called Fuches a “Bully and ruffian. (Fuches) was one of those mean cops you read about on Facebook. All you bald cops are the same, you’re just bullies.”
Evans was released to a family member at the hospital.