Lower Salford man admits to DUI and weapons charge

NORRISTOWN >> A Lower Salford man crashed his vehicle while driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs in Towamencin and during the investigation police also found him illegally possessing a loaded gun, according to court papers.

Brian James Kiester, 30, of the 200 block of Danny Lane, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to 1-to-5-years in a state correctional facility after he pleaded guilty to charges of driving under the influence of a combination of alcohol and drugs and persons not to possess a firearm in connection with the Feb. 3, 2018, one-vehicle crash along Allentown Road in Towamencin.

Judge Richard P. Haaz, who accepted a plea agreement in the case, ordered Kiester to forfeit the weapon, a Springfield XD .45-caliber handgun, to county detectives.

The judge recommended that Kiester serve his sentence at the State Correctional Institution at Chester, Delaware County, which offers substance abuse counseling programs for inmates. Court documents indicate the incident marked Kiester’s third DUI offense.

Haaz ordered Kiester to surrender to the State Department of Corrections on Aug. 30 to begin serving the sentence.

The investigation began about 1:13 a.m. Feb. 3, when Towamencin police responded to the area of Allentown and Derstine roads for a report of a one-vehicle crash that involved a vehicle traveling off the roadway and into a wooded area.

Arriving officers found a 2004 Chevrolet Suburban “in a wooded area down a slight embankment” and “partially wrapped around a tree,” according to the arrest affidavit filed by Towamencin Police Officer Gabriel Wasserman.

“The driver’s door was pinned shut against a large branch and the driver’s window partially blocked,” said Wasserman, adding Kiester, the lone occupant of the vehicle, was conscious and alert but reported feeling nauseous and was bleeding from his nose. “The force of the impact caused branches to penetrate through the car radio and into the operator compartment.”

Towamencin Fire Department was summoned and had to break the front passenger side window to help extricate Kiester from the vehicle, court papers indicate.

“Due to his possible injuries and for the safety of first responders, I asked him if he had any weapons in the vehicle. Kiester stated he had a gun on his hip. I told him to leave it on his hip and not to reach for it,” Wasserman wrote in court papers.

Once Kiester was outside the vehicle police removed a Springfield XD .45-caliber handgun from a holster on his right hip. The gun was loaded, police said.

When police asked Kiester about the crash he claimed he swerved to avoid hitting a deer. But Kiester also admitted to consuming alcohol and claimed to be coming from a Lansdale bar, court papers indicate.

“While being evaluated, Kiester stated he was drunk,” alleged Wasserman, adding a breath test determined Kiester had a bloodalcohol level of 0.168 percent, twice the legal driving limit of 0.08 percent.

Kiester was transported to a local hospital for treatment and a blood test.

When police searched the vehicle they found part of a vape device with charred residue which had the odor of burnt marijuana, according to the criminal complaint. Police also found a clear container in the center console and “immediately recognized the substance inside as marijuana,” according to the criminal complaint.

A blood test determined Kiester’s blood-alcohol content to be 0.201 percent and also identified traces of methamphetamine, according to the arrest affidavit.

The investigation also determined Kiester had a temporary protection from abuse order lodged against him by a Berks County judge on Feb. 2, 2018. During that Berks court hearing, Kiester allegedly stated he had relinquished all firearms, according to court papers.

“The order states that Kiester is not to possess any firearms for the duration of the order,” Wasserman alleged.

With the charges, police alleged Kiester did not have a license to carry a concealed firearm and was a party to an active protection from abuse order that made him “ineligible to carry any firearm while in a motor vehicle.”

Other charges of possession of controlled substances and a small amount of marijuana and drug paraphernalia were dismissed against Kiester as part of the plea agreement.