Route 29 Crash: Police Say Man's Alcohol Level was Twice Legal Limit

A Phoenixville man faces DUI charges after state police say he had a blood alcohol level of twice the legal limit when he crashed his car outside the borough last week.

In addition to two counts of DUI, Joseph L Schneider Jr., 57, was charged with careless driving, disregarding his traffic lane, and driving at a safe speed after the January 3 incident.

According to court documents, Schneider crashed his vehicle near the intersection of Hollow Road and Route 29 sometime before 9:55 p.m. When a state trooper arrived on the scene, Schneider told him that a deer jumped in front of him when he was travelling down 29—he couldn’t remember in which direction—and forced him to swerve out of the way, into a tree and a wooden fence. Schneider said he was uninjured in the crash.

The officer noted that Schneider smelled like alcohol, slurred his speech, and had bloodshot eyes. Schneider consented to take field sobriety tests, the results of which indicated that he was intoxicated.

At 11:44 p.m. the night of the crash, Schneider took a breathalyzer test. He recorded a BAC of .161 percent, just over twice the legal limit.

He is awaiting preliminary hearing.