HAZLETON, Pa. -- A Washington Township police officer accused of crashing into several cars in two Pennsylvania towns this summer while under the influence will be heading to criminal court in April.
Authorities say Washington Township police officer William McCarthy III was involved in a DWI crash in Hazleton, Pa. on Thursday. Pictured, McCarthy's Nissan Armada SUV.Courtesy of WNEP-TVWilliam McCarthy, 45, of Great Meadows, is scheduled to be arraigned in Luzerne County Court in Wilkes Barre, Pa. on April 6 before Judge Michael Vough, according to a court official.
A preliminary hearing was set for December in the magisterial court in Hazleton, Pa., but McCarthy's case was later waived up to the Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas, which handles major civil and criminal cases.
McCarthy was arrested at a roadblock in Hazleton shortly before 8 p.m. on June 16 after allegedly hitting several vehicles in that town -- two of which were occupied. His vehicle had heavy front-end damage when it was stopped and McCarthy had been driving the vehicle even though the airbag had deployed, police said.
Hazleton police have charged McCarthy with DUI, resisting arrest, reckless driving, accidents involving damage to attended vehicles and duty to give information and render aid.
About five hours earlier, McCarthy allegedly drove the wrong-way on a one-way street in Tamaqua -- a town about half-hour away from Hazleton -- sideswiped a parked vehicle with his Nissan Armada SUV and then fled the scene north on Route 309, police said.
Tamaqua police later learned a vehicle matching the description of McCarthy's Nissan was involved in motor vehicle crashes in Hazleton and were able to positively identify McCarthy as the driver involved in the Tamaqua crash, police said.
McCarthy was charged by Tamaqua police with driving the wrong direction on a one-way roadway, accidents involving damage to an unattended vehicle or property and duty to give information and render aid.
Authorities haven't yet provided any additional information on the events leading up to the crash, but they have said McCarthy was allegedly involved in a domestic violence incident in New Jersey prior to the Pennsylvania crashes.
The crashes in Hazleton and Tamaqua occurred nearly a year to the day after McCarthy was arrested on a DWI charge in Blairstown.
During that incident on June 20, 2015, he was found parked on the shoulder of Route 94 in a daze and with an open bottle of tequila between his legs, according to arrest reports obtained by NJ Advance Media.
McCarthy, who'd been kicked out of the house a day before the Blairstown DWI last year, told the officer who stopped to check on his condition that he saw dead people and asked if the officer also saw dead people, police said. McCarthy refused to submit to field sobriety tests and to provide breath samples, police said.
According to the arrest report, his wife told Blairstown police there were family issues at home, that he'd been drinking heavily since 2002 and that they tried to get him help before. McCarthy denied having a drinking problem, according to the arrest report.
McCarthy's license was suspended for 90 days in August 2016 for a first-time DWI violation in connection with the Blairstown incident. At the time of his arrest on June 16, his driver's license was valid.
McCarthy has been suspended without pay from the Washington Township Police Department pending the outcome of the investigation into the most recent incidents.
Justin Zaremba may be reached at jzaremba@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JustinZarembaNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
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