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Graysville man arrested following DUI high-speed chase

By Messenger Staff 3 min read
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WAYNESBURG – A Graysville man is in jail and awaits a preliminary hearing for charges stemming from allegations that he led police on a high-speed pursuit while driving under the influence of alcohol.

Niko Anthony San Nicolas, 24, has been charged with one felony count of fleeing or attempting to elude police, one misdemeanor count each of driving under the influence and accidents involving damage to an attended vehicle, and 31 traffic summary violations.

According to the criminal complaint filed in the office of Magisterial District Judge Glenn Bates, state police was dispatched at around 10:17 p.m. March 26 to assist Waynesburg Borough police with an unrelated report of a shooting in Waynesburg; while traveling west on Route 21 approaching Sugar Run Road in Franklin Township with emergency lights and siren activated, state police observed a vehicle travel into the oncoming east lanes, go through a red light and then accelerate west onto Route 21 and into Waynesburg Borough.

Police said the vehicle did not yield for any steady red lights while traveling west on Route 21, and observed that the only person in the vehicle was a male driver, the complaint states.

As the vehicle traveled on Route 21 in front of the county courthouse, it struck a Dodge Ram truck’s back bumper with its front bumper; after pausing for a short period of time, the driver then continued west on Route 21, the complaint states.

Another state police officer in a marked patrol car positioned his vehicle across both lanes of travel on Route 21 to slow the vehicle down, but the suspect’s vehicle traveled around the patrol car and accelerated further west on Route 21, the complaint states.

As police continued the pursuit, the suspect’s vehicle traveled at speeds above 80 miles per hour on Route 21 west of Waynesburg, passing and following multiple cars too closely; police said the vehicle was traveling so fast that officers could not keep up, and the suspect was driving in such a reckless manner that multiple residents were calling 911 to report the vehicle’s driving conditions and current location, the complaint states.

Police said the suspect “put the public at risk multiple times” throughout the pursuit.

Greene County 911 then reported to pursuing officers that a caller near Hargus Creek Road in Center Township reported seeing a vehicle matching the suspect’s vehicle’s description near the residence; Multiple state police units responded to the area and observed the suspect’s vehicle crashed in a nearby resident’s front yard, the complaint states.

The suspect, later identified as San Nicolas, was spotted walking in a yard nearby and was detained; after being read his rights, San Nicolas told police that the vehicle belonged to his mother.

Police said they immediately noticed the smell of alcohol emanating from San Nicolas, and his eyes were bloodshot and glassy; without being asked, San Nicolas told police he drank “two pitchers of beer” at a local bar and his friend “was just trying to take him home,” even though police said he was the only occupant in the vehicle, the complaint states.

San Nicolas was placed under arrest and was transported to the state police barracks, where he gave a voluntary certified breath sample; police said the result of the breath sample indicated a blood-alcohol content level of 0.136 percent.

Following arraignment, San Nicolas was placed in Greene County Prison in lieu of $15,000 straight bond. His preliminary hearing has been tentatively scheduled to be held before Bates on April 9.

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