TRAFFIC Drivers can hit but they can't run

Police reported a weekend of accidents and drunken drivers.
YOUNGSTOWN -- Drivers who police said had too many alcoholic beverages, crashed into utility poles and cars, and one fell out of the truck he parked in a Volney Road yard.
The weekend traffic mayhem included three DUIs, two of which involved hit-and-runs, and eight driving under suspension charges. Two of the DUS cases involved hit-and-runs.
William Bush, 47, of East Judson was involved in not one but two crashes, police said. He faces charges of DUI, hit-and-run, failure to control, disobeying a traffic control device and not wearing a seat belt.
The first crash happened around 9 p.m. Saturday on East Indianola Avenue. Police said Bush, in a blue 1990 Oldsmobile Cutlass, ran the stop sign at Indianola and Poland Avenue, hit the driver of a Ford Explorer who was turning left onto Indianola and fled the scene across the Center Street bridge.
Not long after Patrolman Joe Moran broadcast a description of the Oldsmobile, a report came in of a car that was crashed into a utility pole on Hine Street. Moran went to assist at that accident and saw it was the blue Oldsmobile.
Bush had to be extricated from his car and taken to St. Elizabeth Health Center. Police said the windshield was broken in a pattern that indicated the driver's head smashed into it during the crash.
At the hospital, Bush acknowledged to police that he had been drinking, police said. Blood was drawn to determine his blood-alcohol concentration.
Volney Road
Earlier Saturday, at 6:15 p.m., police were sent to a house in the 2100 block of Volney Road, where a black Ford truck had ended up in the yard after a hit-and-run accident at Oak Hill and Kenmore avenues. The driver of the truck had struck a utility pole at the intersection, shearing the pole in half, then fled, police said.
After the crash, Patrolman Morris Lee caught up with the truck, which almost hit him, he said. He pursued the truck to Volney Road, where the driver pulled into a yard.
The driver, Daniel Abraham-Santiago, 24, of Enon Valley, Pa., fell out of the truck when told by police to get out. He told police he drank six beers at a friend's house on Kenmore and knew he had hit the pole, according to police.
Abraham-Santiago's blood-alcohol concentration registered .196 when tested, police said. The legal limit is .08.
He was arrested on charges of DUI, hit-and-run and failure to control. He was released to a friend.
On Friday, police said they came across these eight drivers who don't have valid licenses:
UJohn Sullivan, 31, of Centervale Avenue, Boardman. Police said Sullivan, driving a red pickup truck, struck a car around 2:30 a.m. on Market Street near Delason Avenue and fled, with the victim in pursuit. Sullivan, in an effort to avoid the driver of the car he hit, drove up and down side streets and, at one point, drove with no lights. Sullivan, who almost hit a cruiser on Hillman Street, was stopped by police on Hudson Avenue. He faces charges of driving under suspension, hit-and-run and failure to maintain assured clear distance.
UValar Blair, 25, of East Philadelphia Avenue. Police stopped the Dodge Intrepid Blair was driving on Southern Boulevard at 3:30 p.m. after he disregarded a traffic signal. Police said Blair is under five open license suspensions. They charged him with DUS and traffic control device. Blair's passenger, who knew Blair did not have a valid license, was issued a citation charging wrongful entrustment because she let him drive her car.
UJames S. Roth, 37, of South Hazelwood Avenue. Police who responded to a traffic accident at Bears Den Road and Schenley Avenue around 5:30 p.m. discovered Roth had no valid license. He was issued a DUS citation.
UCameron Wells, 22, of Parkview Avenue. He was stopped at 5:30 p.m. in the 100 blocks of Princeton Avenue for having only one headlight. He faces charges of DUS and failure to have two headlights illuminated.
UBernard Hasley, 36, of Magnolia Avenue. He was pulled over around 7 p.m. on Parkwood Avenue when police noticed no light over his rear license plate. Police said Hasley has two open license suspension. He was charged with DUS.
UCharles Menton, 34, of East Lucius Avenue, Hasley's rear seat passenger. Police discovered that a warrant had been issued for his arrest on a DUS charge. Menton was taken to jail.
ULinn Lee, 28, of Ohio Avenue. Police were sent to 1427 Ohio Ave. around 11 p.m. because of a fight heard in the background of a 911 call. They saw a driver in a blue Oldsmobile driving on the sidewalk and yard, chasing people. The car then drove up near Lee's residence at 1427 Ohio and three or four men got out and ran. Lee, the driver, told police she was trying to get people to leave her house because her niece was having a party that got out of control. She was issued a DUS citation.
UDarnell Merchant, 43, of Willis Avenue. The victim of a hit-and-run on Hubbard Road at 11:40 p.m. told police the suspect fled. When the tow truck driver arrived, he told police that a car had wrecked in the 3000 block of Hubbard Road in Liberty Township.
Merchant was apprehended by Liberty police after he tried to flee a crash there. It wasn't immediately clear what he hit in Liberty. He was taken to St. Elizabeth Health Center.
At the hospital, he told police that he'd been drinking and had smoked some marijuana after an argument with his girlfriend. He said a third party bought the Chrysler Lebaron for him and he took plates from another car to use on it. He was issued citations by city police charging DUS, fictitious plates, hit-and-run and failure to control.