Alleged drug-crazed hit-and-run driver also faces assault charges

An allegedly drug-crazed hit-and-run driver who police say bit one North Huntingdon Township police officer on the leg and injured the hand of another Friday morning will face numerous assault charges.

Police Chief Charles Henaghan said James W. Sager III, 36, of West Newton, admitted ingesting two hits of PCP, a hallucinogenic drug, before becoming involved in an accident along Route 30 in front of Kenny Ross Chevrolet on Jacktown Hill at 10:25 a.m.

"After consulting with the district attorney, he will be facing multiple counts of aggravated assault, (drunken driving), simple assault and other charges," Henaghan said.

The police chief said the suspect hit a motorist on Route 30 and left the accident scene, but continued to roam the area.

Officers searched for the red Mitsubishi with front-end damage around the township until they were able to catch up with it in the Circleville section of the township.

"He was driving around in circles, around the Subway parking lot. They finally cornered him at the First National Bank of Herminie and while he was being treated by EMTs, he started going crazy. He bit one officer in the calf and the other suffered a swollen hand," Henaghan said.

The officers were treated at Westmoreland Regional Hospital, Greensburg, and released.

"One officer is off duty to receive orthopaedic care for his hand. The other was bit in the calf and will be back on duty," he said.

Henaghan declined to identify the officers.

Sager was still in Mercy Jeannette Hospital yesterday afternoon being treated for his reaction to the PCP, the chief said.

The female driver of the vehicle Sager hit was entrapped briefly because her car overturned onto its driver's side. Henaghan said he had no information about the woman or the extent of her injuries because police officers had not yet completed their reports.

Westmoreland 911 dispatchers said Circleville Volunteer Fire Department and Rescue 8 responded to the accident scene.