CLARION, Pa. (EYT) – A Summerville man accused of fleeing Clarion Borough Police following a hit-and-run accident is due in court next week.
Court documents indicate that 55-year-old Douglas Ray Dunkle, of Summerville, is scheduled to stand for a preliminary hearing before Magisterial District Judge Duane L. Quinn at 10:45 a.m. on Thursday, September 6, on the following charges:
- Fleeing or Attempting to Elude Officer, Misdemeanor 2
- Accident Involving Damage Attended Vehicle/Property, Misdemeanor 3
- Vehicle Turning Left, Summary (two counts)
- Careless Driving, Summary
- Reckless Driving, Summary
- Failure to Yield to Emergency Vehicle, Summary
Details of the case:
According to a criminal complaint, around 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, August 18, Officer Fox, of the Clarion Borough Police Department, was stopped at a red light on North 6th Avenue and Main Street when a known man in a tan Cadillac SUV traveling east on Main Street waived his arm to get Officer Fox’s attention. The man then said that a vehicle was involved in a hit-and-run and pointed to a white Ford Explorer traveling west on Main Street.
Officer Fox made a right onto Main Street and activated his lights to conduct a traffic stop on the white Ford Explorer, but the Explorer continued west.
According to the complaint, Officer Fox activated his siren multiple times, but the Explorer continued traveling west, ignoring the lights and siren.
The complaint also indicates that the Explorer crossed over U.S. 322, failing to yield to a white pickup truck and continued traveling west, nearly causing an accident.
The vehicle finally stopped at a residence on West Main Street behind Memorial Stadium.
Officer Fox then approached the driver’s side of the vehicle. The driver was identified as Douglas Ray Dunkle.
According to the complaint, when Officer Fox asked Dunkle why he did not pull over, Dunkle stated he did not see the emergency lights until Third Avenue, and when Officer Fox asked why he didn’t pull over when he noticed the lights, Dunkle had no response.
Officer Fox then informed Dunkle he was stopped because of a report he had been involved in a hit-and-run at 8th Avenue and Main Street. Dunkle immediately said it wasn’t his fault and reported that the vehicle behind him was tailgating him “all the way down Main Street,” the complaint states.
According to the complaint, Officer Fox told Dunkle he had failed to yield to oncoming traffic when he was making a left-hand turn from 8th Avenue onto Main Street, and Dunkle became argumentive and stated the tan SUV hit him in the rear of his vehicle.
Officer Fox then spoke to the driver of the tan Cadalliac SUV and asked him what took place at 8th Avenue and Main Street. He reported that he was going straight through the intersection from North 8th Avenue during a green light when the white Ford Explorer pulled out in front of him from South 8th Avenue, striking the front end of his vehicle.
The driver said he got out of his vehicle to assess the damage to the front of his vehicle, and Dunkle got out and looked at his own vehicle. Dunkle then looked at him, said it was his fault, and then got back in his vehicle and “took off” down Main Street, traveling west and refusing to stop to give information or render aid, according to the complaint.
The driver stated that he then followed Dunkle, so his passenger could write down the license plate number and report the hit-and-run. He then noticed Officer Fox and flagged him down to report the incident.
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