Youngstown cops cite Girard man for drunken driving

YOUNGSTOWN — Reports said two city police officers working a drunken-driving detail Monday evening were almost hit by a car driven by a Girard man who was cited for operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol.

The officers were driving about 8:15 p.m. in a tunnel on Division Street when a car crossed the center line and almost hit them, reports said. The officers turned around to try and stop the car but it would not stop, instead going into Youngstown Sinter and dimming its lights as it did so.

The officers eventually found the car and the driver, Wayne Harding, 67, smelled heavily of alcohol, reports said. Reports said when police asked if he had anything to drink, he said, “coffee,” and when he was asked what kind of “coffee,” he answered, “two glasses of wine.”

Harding failed a field-sobriety test and refused to take a breath-analysis test, reports said. He was released on citation with a court date.