Man involved in OVI crash almost walks into live wires

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

Police say a man who crashed his car into a utility pole early Sunday on Glenwood Avenue almost walked into live electrical wires as he wandered around apparently intoxicated.

Don L. Hanni IV, 26, of Youngstown, was charged with operating a vehicle while under the influence along with charges of disorderly conduct while intoxicated, failure to control and misconduct at an emergency.

Reports said officers were called to the 1700 block of Glenwood Avenue about 2:45 a.m. Saturday for a car that crashed into a pole.

When they arrived, they found a car in the middle of the intersection of Glenwood and Delason avenues that was heavily damaged and live electrical wires around it. Reports said officers had to block off the road and keep people back because of the wires.

When police approached the vehicle, they found it empty and all the windows and air bags deployed, reports said.

Reports said paramedics were yelling at a man, who was later identified as Hanni, stepping over the wires to come back to his car.

Officers also yelled at him to stop and stay where he was but he continued, reports said.

Reports said Hanni appeared to be very drunk, and instead of answering questions about why he did not stay back, he told police he would try and think of what his name was, reports said.

Reports said a witness told police she came upon the accident and saw Hanni sitting in his car in the middle of the road, then get out and run into a nearby yard until police showed up.

Hanni complained of his head hurting but also told police he did not know why it hurt. Reports said he was taken to St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital for the head pain, and officers decided to forgo a field-sobriety test because of the head pain and also because Hanni could barely stand.

At the hospital, Hanni could not make up his mind if he would consent to a blood test despite being asked several times, so police took that as a refusal.

Beside the citations, police told him his license also was being suspended because he would not consent to the test.

Reports said because he was so drunk and also because of his medications he was being given to treat his pain, he could not sign his citations.