FORT WAYNE – An alleged drunken driver was charged Thursday with leaving the scene of a crash that seriously injured two people riding a motorcycle in northern Allen County.
Darren Peters, 46, drove home after the collision on Saturday, and when his wife saw the damage to his Jeep, she insisted on driving him back to the crash scene at Hosler and Viberg roads, according to court papers.
At the scene, Peters told an Allen County police officer he “clipped” the motorcycle but did not realize it had crashed. The officer smelled a “moderate odor” of alcohol on Peters and noticed he had to lean against a vehicle to keep from swaying, court papers stated.
A breath test showed Peters’ blood-alcohol level was 0.13 percent, court papers said. Indiana’s legal limit for drivers is 0.08 percent.
The man operating the motorcycle, Jeff Bryant, told police he and his wife, Joann, had been heading northwest on Hosler Road, nearing Viberg Road, when the oncoming Jeep crossed the centerline, hit their motorcycle and kept going, court papers said.
Jeff Bryant broke his left leg, and Joann Bryant suffered a crushed pelvis, broken left leg and shattered left ankle, court papers stated.
Peters, from Leo-Cedarville, faces a misdemeanor count of operating a vehicle while intoxicated and eight felonies: two counts of failure to stop after an accident resulting in injury, two counts of criminal recklessness and four counts of operating a vehicle while intoxicated. He has not been arrested.