State College doctor told to avoid alcohol, then sent to jail

A State College doctor was told she “needs to stay away from alcohol” by a Clearfield County judge on Monday, then sentenced to jail.

Sharon Pletcher, 58, whose address is listed in Port Matilda, was on probation in Clearfield County after pleading guilty in January to assaulting a police officer in June, 2016 at Penn Highlands Clearfield. She violated that probation on June 13 when she was involved in a three-car crash, while a blood test determined she was under the influence of alcohol.

On Monday, President Judge Fredric J. Ammerman revoked her probation and sentenced her to 32 days (time served) to one year in jail. She will serve one year additional probation.

According to the affidavit in the assault case, Pletcher threw a cup of water at, pushed and kicked a Clearfield borough police officer after being taken to Penn Highlands for psychiatric evaluation.

She also has two pending DUI cases in Centre County.

In the latest case, police said Pletcher’s vehicle hit two parked vehicles on East Pine Street in Philipsburg. Pletcher told a state trooper at the scene that she had not consumed any alcohol and was not involved in a crash. She allegedly smelled like alcohol and showed other signs of being impaired, the trooper said. Because of the crash and her being “very uncooperative,” the detective decided not to try to conduct a field sobriety test. After she was placed under arrest, she agreed to a breath test and the results showed the presence of alcohol. A blood test later revealed that her blood alcohol content was greater than .300, according to the report.

Pletcher’s preliminary hearing in this case is set for Aug. 23.

She was also charged with DUI and traffic summaries in January in relation to an incident in October, 2016. She waived her preliminary hearing in March on these charges.

This is the fourth time in less than two years that Pletcher has been arrested.

In another Clearfield County case, from Aug. 2015, police were called to a Morris Township residence for a report of an unwanted female. It was reported that Pletcher arrived at the home and began to use vulgar language. A resident told her to leave several times, but she refused until she was told the police were called.

A responding officer said Pletcher was seated in her vehicle and speaking to another officer when he made contact with her. He said he detected a strong odor of alcohol on her breath.

After she was placed under arrest for public drunkenness, she grabbed the steering wheel and told them she wasn’t getting out, according to court documents. The two officers then physically removed her from the vehicle as she resisted them, according to that affidavit.

This story was originally published July 19, 2017 at 12:05 AM with the headline "State College doctor told to avoid alcohol, then sent to jail."