NEWARK, DELAWARE — A Newark truck driver was arrested early Saturday morning after driving a flatbed tractor-trailer through a residential neighborhood while impaired by drugs, striking 12 parked vehicles, a street sign, and four mailboxes across four streets before stopping and getting out — with crack cocaine, fentanyl, prescription medications, and drug paraphernalia found inside the cab.
New Castle County Police responded at approximately 5:14 a.m. on September 5 to the Harmony Woods neighborhood after reports of a flatbed striking multiple parked vehicles. Officers located Brian Johnston, 53, of Newark, on Melodic Drive showing signs of impairment. Field sobriety tests confirmed he was impaired.
The path of destruction spanned the entire neighborhood. Johnston struck two parked vehicles on Medley Drive, three on Duet Drive, two on Melodic Drive, and five on Acapella Court, along with a street sign and four mailboxes along the way.
Johnston faces more than 50 charges including twelve counts each of leaving the scene of a property damage collision, failure to provide information at a collision scene, leaving the scene of a commercial motor vehicle accident, and failure to report a collision to police. He also faces three counts of possession of a controlled substance, one count of operating a commercial vehicle while impaired by drugs, one count of possession of drug paraphernalia, and one inattentive driving violation.
Johnston was booked into the Howard R. Young Correctional Institution after failing to post $3,825 secured bail.
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