When Constable Jeff Aderhold took Barry Artis into custody late Monday morning for unpaid fines on some routine summary offenses, it turned out there also happened to be a city police warrant for the 25-year-old, charging him with allegedly being drunk when he crashed his car in early March.
Artis was arrested about 11:30 a.m. at his home at 618 Rose St.
Aderhold soon learned that Artis was wanted for driving under the influence of alcohol and controlled substances as well as possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia.
The charges stemmed from when Artis crashed into a fire hydrant in the 1500 block of Park Avenue during the early morning hours of March 6, city police said.
"There was a moderate odor of an alcoholic beverage on his breath. His speech was very slurred and his eyes were extremely glassy," an officer wrote in an affidavit.
Artis also allegedly had a bag of marijuana in his possession, police said.
Blood tests revealed that there was alcohol, marijuana and the anxiety-disorder drug alprazolam in Artis' body at the time of the crash, police said.
Following his arraignment before District Jon E. Kemp, Artis was committed to the Lycoming County Prison in lieu of $30,000 bail.
