An Armstrong County man is accused of being under the influence of heroin while driving with an 18-month-old boy in his car, continuing to drive after crashing into a guardrail.
Kiski Township Patrolman Dean Dressell said he saw Robby Patrick Ohler, 21, of Rural Valley, driving a Dodge Caliber at about 1:30 a.m. Sunday along Route 56.
According to a criminal complaint, Dressell said the vehicle showed severe driver side damage and a wheel appeared to be bent out of place and wobbling “as if it were going to come detached from the vehicle.”
Dressell said he saw the vehicle cross the center line of the road several times and “nearly go off the roadway toward the embankments” just before he stopped the car at the intersection with Flat Rock Road.
The patrolman said Ohler had a suspended license. He also said Ohler told him he “swerved into a guardrail” on Route 56 between Girty Run Road and Route 156.
Dressell said Ohler admitted to using heroin and the man had four needles, a spoon and two stamp bags with a white powder inside.
The patrolman said a test kit showed a “presumptive positive reading for heroin.”
Ohler was arraigned later Sunday on charges of child endangerment, reckless endangerment, driving under the influence of drugs, possession of drugs and drug paraphernalia, and driving with a suspended license. District Judge J. Gary DeComo ordered Ohler to be held in the Armstrong County Jail in lieu of $15,000 bond pending an Oct. 16 preliminary hearing before District Judge James Andring in Leechburg.
According to police, Ohler’s father took custody of the child.
