John Surber (Photo courtesy of Baxter County Sheriff’s Office)
Drivers are being forced to deal with a second four-way stop after a Summit man plowed into a traffic light control box and a fire hydrant at the intersection of Highways 62B and 5 North on Aug. 23.
Seventy-two-year-old John Luddie Surber was reported to have been drinking heavily when the accident occurred.
A not guilty plea was entered for Surber by his attorney during a session of Baxter County Circuit Court last Monday. He is now free on $10,000 bond.
Events leading to Surber’s arrest began when a Mountain Home police officer was dispatched to investigate a driver who was possibly intoxicated.
After the officer turned on his emergency lights, Surber accelerated, almost hit one light pole, left the road at the intersection of 62B and 5 North and plowed into the traffic light control box and a fire hydrant. Even after the collision, Surber continued to try and flee.
He was reported to have held the accelerator down but was unable to move because the front driver’s side tire had come off.
Officers who got Surber out of his wrecked and smoking truck said a “very high-level odor of intoxicants” was detected, his speech was noted as being slurred, and his eyes were red and watery.
Surber’s blood alcohol content registered well above the legal limit for driving, according to the police report.
Damage to the traffic light control box, and the fire hydrant is estimated at $100,000.
Surber is charged with two felonies – fleeing and second-degree criminal mischief. The other charges are misdemeanors.
The first four way stop on 62B was created near the square Jan. 1 when a vehicle accident put the traffic light out of commission.
It was several months before the signal could be put back into normal use because replacement poles had to be custom built.
The driver in the first accident was also reported to have been drinking.
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