A Maryland man was high on marijuana and driving a stolen SUV on a learner’s permit when he crashed into a utility pole in Schuylkill County last month, State Police say.
Now Dustin Blackiston, 30, of Elkton, Maryland (and formerly of Pottsville), is wanted on a felony charge of receiving stolen property, two counts of DUI, and related charges, according to State Police-Schuylkill Haven, who have obtained a warrant for his arrest.
Troopers were dispatched shortly before midnight on June 24 to the intersection of Summer Valley Road (Route 895) and Route 61 for a report of a single-vehicle accident, police say. Arriving minutes later, Trooper Kevin Pepsin reported finding a black Dodge Durango that had struck a utility pole and a guardrail. The driver was standing near the vehicle, shirtless, speaking with fire personnel.
When Pepsin interviewed Blackiston at the scene, Blackiston produced a learner’s permit rather than a driver’s license. Blackiston told police the vehicle belonged to a friend who had let him use it to travel to work, and that he was on his way to pick up his girlfriend. He said a rear driver’s side tire lost traction as he was turning, and estimated his speed at 35 to 40 mph.
Asked whether he had consumed anything that day, Blackiston told the trooper, “I smoked like two, three hours ago, but that was about it. I, I, okay. I can do sobriety tests. I can do all that,” according to police. When asked what he had smoked, Blackiston said, “I smoked a little bit of marijuana like two, three hours ago. I’m being completely honest.”.
Blackiston, who had a minor abrasion to his forehead and a blackened right eye, was evaluated by Auburn EMS but refused transport and further treatment, according to police. While a second trooper searched the vehicle for insurance information, he reported seeing a gold THC vaporizer labeled “The Gasfather” on the passenger seat and a joint roach labeled “Raw” in the center console, police say.
Pepsin reported observing indicators of impairment during standardized field sobriety tests and additional advanced roadside tests. After Blackiston gave written consent to a search of the vehicle, police say they seized a rolling paper containing marijuana and a plastic straw containing a white powder residue from the driver’s side floor, along with several nicotine vapes.
Blackiston was taken into custody around 1 a.m. on June 25 on DUI and drug possession allegations, police say. A search turned up a package labeled “Big Dog Blueberry Cookies” containing marijuana in his cargo shorts pocket, according to police. He consented to a blood draw at Lehigh Valley Hospital-East in Pottsville, police say. A toxicology report later indicated the presence of THC in his blood.
Hours after the crash, police say they received a stolen-vehicle notification for the Durango, which had been reported stolen to the Elkton, Maryland, Police Department. The vehicle’s registered owner told police she had allowed Blackiston, a friend of her brother, to use the car on June 24 only to drive to a Verizon Wireless store to activate his phone, and that he had returned it. She told police the vehicle was at her mother’s residence when she went to bed that evening and was gone when she woke the next morning, at which point she reported it stolen.
Court records show Blackiston was sentenced to 6 months of probation in Schuylkill County following a DUI conviction in 2024.
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