Pa. lawmaker waives hearing

Maher was charged with DUI in June

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

HARRISBURG — State Rep. John Maher waived his right to a preliminary hearing this week on charges that he drove under the influence outside the state capital in June.

His blood alcohol level, police said, was more than twice the legal limit.

“I waived my hearing because I accept responsibility for my bad decision,” Mr. Maher, a 58year-old Republican from Upper St. Clair, said in a text message.

“I should not have been driving after dinner that night.

It will never happen again.”

Mr. Maher is due in court Oct. 26 for formal arraignment.

East Pennsboro Patrolman Stephen Ruff wrote in an affidavit of probable cause that he was patrolling just before 1 a.m. June 13 when he saw someone in an Audi make a U-turn, at one point driving in the wrong direction.

Patrolman Ruff said the driver, later identified as Mr. Maher, told him he worked at the Capitol, was coming from dinner and was trying to get to a CVS pharmacy, according to the affidavit.

At one point, Mr. Maher admitted that he probably shouldn’t have made the U-turn, police said.

“Eventually, Maher provided me with his license, registration and insurance as well as his Capitol ID, which was promptly returned to him,” Patrolman Ruff wrote in the affidavit.

Mr. Maher said in an interview Thursday afternoon that he typically keeps his ID card in his shirt pocket, along with his driver’s license and credit card.

He said he pulled out his license, and the officer asked “What's that?” in reference to the ID card, so he handed his ID to the officer.

“I desire to be treated as anybody else, and I believe that I was,” Mr. Maher said.

The patrolman quoted the representative in the affidavit as saying he ate dinner and, when pressed about how much he had to drink, saying, “It’s part of my job.”

The patrolman said he asked Mr. Maher to step out of the car and, after he did, the representative “almost fell into me while trying to stop walking.”

On a breath test, he blew 0.237, just shy of three times the legal limit for driving, according to the affidavit.

Patrolman Ruff took Mr. Maher to a local hospital for a blood draw.

The representative sat in silence while deciding whether to consent to the test, police said.

The officer said he gave Mr. Maher three minutes to decide and then asked him to sign a form saying he had been advised of possible penalties for refusing a blood test.

“Maher was about to sign and then looked at my signature and questioned whether it was my real signature or not.

Maher told me that if he worked at CVS, he would not accept my signature,” the patrolman wrote in the affidavit.

He eventually agreed to a blood test about 2 a.m., which came back with a blood alcohol level of 0.184, police said.

Mr. Maher faces charges of driving under the influence, making an unsafe U-turn and driving the wrong way.

He represents parts of Allegheny and Washington counties and is currently serving his 11th consecutive term, according to his biography on the Pennsylvania House of Representatives website. stopped the car, he told police. Then he looked over and saw that Nathan Assad was slumped over and bleeding, hit in the face.

The witness later identified Nathan Lee as the person who shot at them. The witness was not identified by name in court records.

Nathan Lee was arrested and was interviewed with his grandfather, who is his legal guardian.

Both agreed to speak to detectives without an attorney.

Nathan Lee said he had gone to meet Nathan Assad to buy marijuana, but said that Nathan Assad tried to rob him. The 16-year-old said he pulled out a .380 and told the 17-year-oldto get out of the car.

Nathan Lee said he and the