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BUCKHANNON -- A man faces charges in Upshur County after allegedly driving under the influence and crashing a vehicle off Route 33 between bridges.
Cordell Allan Nicola, 29, is charged with one count of destruction of property, a felony. He is also charged with one count of DUI, a misdemeanor. He is currently being held at the Tygart Valley Regional Jail on a $10,000 cash-only bond for the felony charge and a $1,500 surety/cash bond for the misdemeanor charge.
According to the criminal complaint, filed by Patrolman C. Spotloe with the Buckhannon City Police Department, on Sunday, Spotloe was dispatched to the Old Weston Road under the bridge of Route 33, next to the exit ramp, for a one-vehicle motor vehicle collision.
Once on the scene, the driver stated he did not know who was driving and did not see anything, the complaint states. Spotloe asked the driver if he had seen anyone get out of the car, to which he replied, “no, when I got out they was,” reportedly referring to Spotloe asking if the passengers in the crashed vehicle were out of the car and off the embankment.
Spotloe then asked a witness if he had seen who was driving and he replied, “Yeah, it was him.” Spotloe then asked if the witness had seen the driver get out of the driver side and he replied, “Yes.” Spotloe asked the two who in the vehicle was driving, and the driver, identified as Nicola, allegedly raised his hand.
When Spotloe asked Nicola what happened, Nicola allegedly stated “I just fell asleep. I mean, we have a six-month kid at home,” the complaint states. As Nicola spoke, Spotloe could reportedly smell the odor of alcohol coming from Nicola’s breath. He also observed Nicola’s eyes were allegedly bloodshot and watery, and that Nicola’s speech was slow and slurred.
Nicola stated they had been coming from Fairmont and that he had had nothing to drink; however, he allegedly recanted that statement, saying “I had one or two.” Nicola reportedly consented to a blood draw. EMS evaluated Nicola before Spotloe detained him. Field sobriety tests were not conducted “due to the nature of the crash.”
Spotloe took pictures of the damages from the vehicle crash, which reportedly started on Route 33 East Bound and led down in-between the bridges on Route 33, the complaint states. During this, Spotloe allegedly photographed multiple Twisted Teas, a bottle of Everclear and a can of Smirnoff Ice Red, White, and Blue. The alcoholic beverages were thrown out of the vehicle after the crash.
Spotloe then spoke with a female passenger, who was also under the influence of alcohol and admitted she had been drinking, the complaint states. She allegedly said, “We came from my friend’s house in Barrackville. I fell asleep and everything was cool. I seen him with a Twisted Tea one time and then he asked if I was ready to leave, so we left and I fell asleep.”
When asked when the alcoholic beverages had been thrown out of the vehicle, the female passenger stated, “When we wrecked, I told him to. I told him to throw it out of the vehicle.”
During Spotloe’s investigation, he estimated the cost of road damages for around 30 feet is approximately $2,800 for material and labor, the complaint states. A chain-link fence was also destroyed in the accident, and it was estimated to cost $1,100 for approximately 30 feet of fencing. This brings the total of estimated damages to be $3,900,; however, Spotloe wrote he was still waiting for the state Department of Highways to review the damage.