LANCASTER, Pa. — The driver in a single-vehicle crash that caused several thousand Lancaster County residents to lose power for nearly 10 hours on Saturday is suspected to have been driving impaired, police in Manheim Township said Monday.
George B. Hetrick IV, 23, of Lancaster, was arrested on suspicion of DUI shortly after the crash, which occurred around 12:04 p.m. on the 300 block of East Roseville Road, according to police.
Hetrick's 2013 BMW 535i failed to negotiate a left-hand curve, left the roadway, sheared off a PPL utility pole, and traveled through several front yards, damaging multiple mailboxes and pieces of shrubbery, police said.
The damage to the utility pole caused a power outage that affected more than 1,000 people, according to police. The power was not restored until nearly midnight in some cases, police said.
Additionally, a power surge resulting from the crash affected nine homes close to the scene, damaging kitchen appliances, furnaces, televisions, and wiring inside the homes, police said.
One property, which took the brunt of the power surge, will have to be stripped down to the bare studs and rewired, according to police.
After determining that Hetrick showed signs of impairment at the scene, police arrested him on charges of suspicion of DUI, careless driving, and driving at unsafe speeds, police said.
Hetrick allegedly refused to submit to a breathalyzer test, police said.
