Police: Palmyra mayoral candidate charged with DUI after driving his truck into a house
A Republican primary candidate for Palmyra mayor was arrested May 15 for allegedly crashing a truck into a house while driving under the influence, according to the Western Lebanon Regional Police Department.
At 8:12 p.m., officers were dispatched to the 400 block of North Railroad Street and observed 10 people standing outside the crash location. According to court documents, Kevin Yiengst's vehicle, a white GMC Sierra pick up truck, had heavy front end damage into a house at the North Railroad/Willow Street intersection.
Yiengst told police that he was not injured and didn't need EMS, though police reported a strong odor of "an alcoholic beverage" coming from his breath.
"When EMS asked Yiengst what happened he pointed to his vehicle, then said 'a cat ran in front of me, I turned and...' and then put his hands up in the air," police said in court documents.
While inside the ambulance, Yiengst was asked how much he had to drink. According to court documents, his response was "several," before adding "I was drinking Vodka and whatever the hell I was ... yes."
When police asked Yiengst how long ago his last drink was, he allegedly responded "20 minutes ago." After performing field sobriety tests, police placed Yiengst in handcuffs and placed him under arrest for suspicion of DUI.
"Yiengst mentioned several times throughout the investigation process that he was 'going to be the Mayor of Palmyra,'" police said in court documents.
Due to the noise and doctor orders for Yiengst to be brought in for evaluation, Police said they escorted him to the ambulance. According to court documents, police then read Yiengst a DL 26b form, which is a blood test warning form.
"Yiengst stated 'what the (expletive) are we doing all this (expletive) for? I told you the truth, you can read all the (expletive) all you want,'" police said in court documents.
Police said that Yiengst originally agreed to do the blood draw, but after the ambulance took him to the Penn State Health Hershey Medical Center he refused. According to an affidavit of probable cause, police captured the refusal on a body camera and filled out the DL 26b form.
Yeignst is one of the mayoral candidates on the ballot for the Palmyra Borough Council Republican Primary on May 20. According to a Facebook page called Conservative Republicans for Palmyra Borough Council, the Lebanon County Republican Committee officially endorsed Yiengst for mayor in the primary.
Yiengst has been charged with DUI and careless driving. He has a preliminary hearing scheduled before Magisterial District Judge David Warner at 8 a.m. June 26.
Matthew Toth is a reporter for the Lebanon Daily News. Reach him at mtoth@ldnews.com or on X at @DAMattToth.
This article originally appeared on Lebanon Daily News: Palmyra mayoral candidate charged with DUI after truck strikes a house
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