Police: Driver who caused crash had been drinking

The crash sent the Subaru into a 180-degree turn.

STAFF REPORT

YOUNGSTOWN — A 45-year-old West Side man who had been drinking before he caused a crash that sent another vehicle into a porch on North Schenley was driving with a suspended license, police said.

George S. Oracio of South Maryland Avenue was arraigned Wednesday in municipal court on charges of reckless operation, operating a vehicle impaired (OVI), driving under suspension and failure to stop after an accident. He will be back in court March 13 for a pretrial hearing. Police said he has several open suspensions on his license.

The crash happened around 9 p.m. Tuesday on Connecticut Avenue. Police said Oracio, traveling west in a 1995 Subaru Legacy at a high rate of speed, slammed into the side of a 2008 Chevrolet Trailblazer that had been traveling north on North Schenley Avenue and proceeded across Connecticut after stopping at a stop sign. The impact sent the Trailblazer through a front yard and into a porch. The Subaru did a 180-degree turn and ended up on the devil strip at the northwest corner of the intersection.

The woman in the Trailblazer said the Subaru driver fled. Police learned that Oracio got into a friend’s car that had been following him. Oracio returned to the crash scene with his girlfriend, who initially told officers that she had been driving but later admitted that she was picked up after the crash by Oracio and the friend who had been following him on Connecticut.

Police said Oracio’s eyes were bloodshot and glassy and they detected an alcoholic beverage odor on him. He submitted to a urine test at St. Elizabeth Health Center. The urine sample was then logged into the police evidence locker.

Oracio’s girlfriend, who owns the Suburu, told police she has no insurance.