Felony charges against a man police say was high on methamphetamine when he caused a crash earlier this year were dropped last week.
Zachary Shade saw felony charges of DUI vehicular aggravated assault and vehicle aggravated assault withdrawn during a preliminary hearing on Thursday.
First Assistant District Attorney Mike Stine tells The Canary that injuries to the victim were not serious enough to warrant an aggravated assault charge.
The remaining charges against Shade, 30, of Valley View, were held for Schuylkill County Court of Common Pleas. Those include misdemeanor counts of accidents involving injury, accidents involving damage, DUI, possession of a controlled substance, and possession of drug paraphernalia. He’s also facing numerous summary traffic offenses.
Shade is accused of crashing into the back of another vehicle on Interstate 81 in Pine Grove Township back in mid-May. He then allegedly fled the scene, ditching his vehicle, and was later apprehended at the Pilot truck stop just off I-81 outside Pine Grove.
At the time of his arrest, Shade was allegedly holding a bag that contained methamphetamine, a spoon, and a glass pipe with drug residue on it. Shade allegedly admitted to causing the crash and said he was trying to light a cigarette but it fell to the floor of his vehicle. When he bent over to pick it up, he jerked the steering wheel and crashed into the back of another vehicle.
The driver of that vehicle was taken to Geisinger-St. Luke’s Hospital near Orwigsburg for treatment of his injuries. Police say the victim’s vehicle rolled over and crashed into an embankment.
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