Lansdale Man Arrested for DUI After Crashing into Vehicles, Buildings: Police

North Penn Now Staff•

Damage can be seen to both the garage and the wall, following the crash.

A Lansdale man is facing more than a dozen charges after he allegedly crashed into two vehicles and two buildings while driving drunk during the early morning hours of Aug. 18.

According to the criminal complaint, Lansdale Borough Police were dispatched to the area of North Chestnut and East Main streets at 1:25 a.m. for a report of a vehicle that had crashed into a building. Upon arrival, police found a parked vehicle that had been pushed up onto a lawn, a second parked vehicle that had impact damage to its front bumper, tire marks in the grass, a garage that sustained impact damage on its corner and the wall of a business that had a large hole in it, the report states.

Police said that the wall with the large hole in it is where the striking vehicle came to rest, before fleeing the scene. Police found the front bumper of the striking vehicle in the alley outside of the business, and later located the vehicle itself—a white GMC Envoy without a front bumper—parked on the corner of East Third and North Chestnut streets, according to the report.

At the scene of the vehicle, police spoke with a man who identified himself as the passenger, and said he had been out drinking with the driver—identified as 31-year-old Vernon Morgan, of the 100 block of East Third Street—at the Lansdale VFW earlier in the evening, the report states. The passenger said Morgan allegedly turned off of East Main Street onto North Chestnut Street at a high rate of speed and lost control of the vehicle, striking the two parked vehicles, the garage and the building, according to the report.

Morgan then drove away from the scene and parked the vehicle outside of his home, police said.

The complaint states that police knocked at Morgan’s door, but he would not answer the door nor calls to his phone. Police then noticed that the rear-door to his home was sitting open, and fearing for Morgan’s safety, they entered the home and found him unconscious on his couch, according to the report. Police then woke him up, and the report describes him as highly intoxicated, though uninjured.

Police then escorted Morgan out of his home. The report states that Morgan denied driving the vehicle, but once outside, his passenger confirmed to police that he was the driver, the report states. Morgan was then placed under arrest for DUI and related charges, and was transported to the Towamencin Township Police Department for a portable breath test, the results of which showed that he had a blood-alcohol content of .29-percent, the report states.

A search of his person allegedly uncovered a small amount of cocaine and methamphetamine that was hidden in Morgan’s wallet, according to the report.

As a result of the incident, Morgan was charged on Sept. 17 with misdemeanor counts of DUI-first offense, DUI-highest rate of alcohol, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia, in addition to summary counts of reckless driving, careless driving, accident involving damage to unattended vehicles or property and failing to report an accident to police.

Morgan's first court action on the charges is a preliminary hearing in front of Magisterial District Judge Ed Levine on Nov. 19 at 2:15 p.m.

(Editor’s note: All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using court records and the affidavit of probable cause, and reflects the point of view of the police. Should the defendant choose to issue a public statement, or is later found not guilty or has the charges dropped, we will update this article accordingly.)