Penns Valley man charged with DUI after crash injures woman in Centre County
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- Centre County man charged after head-on crash linked to illegal drug use.
- Police report driver tested positive for multiple substances, including meth.
- Crash left woman seriously injured; bail set at $25,000 unsecured.
A Centre County man was arraigned Wednesday on charges that accused him of driving under the influence of several illegal drugs when he caused a head-on crash that seriously injured a woman.
Mick L. Hockenberry Jr., 29, of Miles Township, was accused of slamming his Dodge Durango into two other drivers when he crossed into the southbound lane of South Main Street in Spring Township on the afternoon of April 22.
He hit one driver head-on and then crashed into the driver’s side door of a second vehicle, Spring Township police wrote in an affidavit of probable cause. Witnesses told investigators Hockenberry was driving at a high rate of speed before the crash.
Hockenberry tested positive for the compound that gives pot its high, amphetamine, methamphetamine and a metabolite commonly used for the treatment of opioid use disorder.
The township detective said in the charging document that Hockenberry showed obvious signs and symptoms of being under the influence, including constricted pupils. He failed field sobriety tests, police wrote, and was in possession of a marijuana wax substance and a methamphetamine pipe.
A self-described recovering opioid addict, investigators said Hockenberry told them he was “trying to get clean but recently relapsed.” He also was alleged to have told emergency medical service staff that he smoked meth the morning of the crash.
Police said Hockenberry has two DUI convictions in the last 10 years.
The woman he was accused of injuring told police earlier this month she broke her ankle, forcing her to spend four nights in a hospital and use a walking boot and a walker to move through her house. She is unable to do daily tasks without assistance and said her doctors told her the injury would affect “her daily life moving forward,” police wrote.
The charging document did not detail any injuries for Hockenberry or the other driver.
Hockenberry was charged with felony counts of aggravated assault by vehicle while DUI and DUI, as well as a misdemeanor count of possession of drug paraphernalia and three summary traffic violations.
He was released Wednesday by District Judge Greg Koehle, who set bail at $25,000 unsecured. No defense lawyer was listed and a woman who answered a phone call at a number listed for Hockenberry disconnected.
His preliminary hearing is scheduled for June 4.