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Ellenna M. Houser, 39, of 2690 Township Road 40, Rushsylvania, was charged with operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs and failure to stop after an accident as a result of an incident early Sunday morning.
Her passenger, Jeffery W. McCafferty, 34, of the same address, also was charged with obstructing official business related to the incident.
Deputies of the Logan County Sheriff’s Office first responded to Lugnuts Bar, 6748 Lima St., Huntsville, about 3:20 a.m. in reference to a hit-skip crash.
Deputies spoke with Jeff Frey, who reported that a car owned by his mother, Betty Frey, had been parked at the bar that morning and had sustained heavy damage after it was struck by another vehicle.
Frey and several others identified Houser and McCafferty as potential suspects that had just left the bar in a pickup and likely had struck the car.
Deputies located the pair in the pickup driving near Houser and McCafferty’s residence in the area of U.S. Route 68 and Township Road 51 and initiated a traffic stop about 4:15 a.m. Damage to the right rear corner of the pickup also was observed.
The driver, Houser, was instructed by her passenger at various times “don’t say anything” when being questioned by deputies. The pair at first told deputies they had been at a bar in Belle Center.
Deputies had Houser exit the vehicle, and they noted that she was unsteady on her feet. When asked if she would complete field sobriety tests, she told deputies she didn’t understand and she eventually was placed under arrest
McCafferty also was placed under arrest, as he continued to interfere with deputies as they questioned the driver.
Both defendants were transported to the Logan County Jail, where Houser refused to take a breath test.
Read more Logan County Beat News in Tuesday’s Examiner.