Police say a man that forced another vehicle and its two occupants off the road in West Penn Township, leaving it partially on its side and teetering over an embankment, was under the influence of drugs at the time.
The driver, identified as Eugene Yuditsky, 38, of Newmanstown, Lebanon County, was later stopped and arrested on suspicion of DUI.
Yuditsky was charged this week with a felony count of causing an accident involving death or injury along with two misdemeanor counts of DUI, and summary offenses for reckless driving, failing to keep right, and failing to stop and render aid.
According to an affidavit filed by Sgt. John Kaczmarczyk of West Penn Township Police, the crash happened just before 8 p.m. on Sept. 12 at Penn Drive and Spring Rd.
While he was on his way to the scene, Schuylkill County 911 told Kaczmarczyk that another vehicle involved in the crash had left the area. A witness was following that vehicle and reported it driving erratically heading toward Tamaqua.
When Kaczmarczyk arrived at the scene of the initial crash, he found a vehicle tipped onto its side and teetering over an embankment.
The passenger was partially reachable through a window, and with help from bystanders, Kaczmarczyk says he pulled him out. The woman who had been driving the overturned vehicle remained trapped until bystanders stabilized the car and freed her. Both were taken to Lehigh Valley Hospital in Carbon County, and police say the woman was later airlifted to a trauma center because of her injuries.
Before she was transported, the woman told police that another vehicle had come at her head-on in her lane and forced her off the road.
The witness who followed the fleeing driver returned to the crash site and told police he had watched the vehicle cross into the oncoming lane several times. He also said he saw it force another car off the road.
Two additional witnesses at the scene confirmed the same erratic driving.
Tamaqua police later stopped the fleeing vehicle at W. Spruce and S. Railroad streets. Officers provided Kaczmarczyk with the driver’s paperwork and a Pennsylvania license identifying the man as Yuditsky.
Tamaqua officers told police they believed Yuditsky was under the influence of drugs, saying he appeared lethargic, avoided eye contact, spoke slowly and was sweating.
Kaczmarczyk said he saw the same indicators. Officers asked Yuditsky to take field sobriety tests, and after what the affidavit describes as “a bit of verbal run around,” he refused.
Kaczmarczyk arrested him for suspicion of DUI and took him to Lehigh Valley Hospital in Pottsville for a blood test.
A computer check later showed Yuditsky had a prior DUI from 2024 in Florida and three additional DUI cases from the last six months that are still moving through the courts.
Police say that blood test performed after the September crash showed Yuditsky had an amphetamine level of 53 ng/ml.
Yuditsky is scheduled to answer to these charges at a preliminary hearing before Magisterial District Judge AJ Serina on Dec. 16.
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