Upper Dublin Police Department. Photo by James Short.
The vehicles struck a traffic light at Fort Washington and Pennsylvania avenues in mid-July.
Upper Dublin Township Police Department responded to an accident mid-July to a man attempting to use a 2012 black Nissan Rogue vehicle to “tow” a 2006 Ford Econoline E350 white van, and discovered the driver was under the influence of fentanyl and other controlled substances.
John Edward Tierney Jr., 38, of Hollywood Road, in Whitemarsh Township, was observed by police around 1 a.m. on Friday, July 12 in the area of Fort Washington and West Pennsylvania avenues, according to reports, standing near the bumper of the van, which was on the sidewalk. Police said that Tierney relayed to them that the Nissan was his mother’s, and that he was attempting to “use his mom’s car to pull his van down the street.”
According to reports, Tierney had slurred speech and seemed “lethargic.”
“Every time he blinked, he struggled to open his eyes,” said police via an affidavit criminal complaint. While trying to produce his documents, police added that he struggled to unfold the papers.
Police used a flashlight, they said, to observe that Tierney’s pupils were constricted and not reactive to light. According to reports, police noticed that the van had suffered significant front-end damage, and that the traffic light’s base was knocked off its pole. Tierney told police, per records, that he was not wearing a seat belt as he operated the Nissan. His mother was in the driver’s seat of the van, police said. Neither reported requiring emergency medical care.
Police reported that they asked Tierney if he was under the influence, at which point he “put up his hands and told me ‘no,’” police said. Upon putting his hands up, police said they saw a “small black rubber band around his right pinky finger.” Police said, in their experience, such bands were often used on bundles of heroin.
Due to his behavior and having told a version of events that police said did not align with the scene, police conducted field sobriety testing. According to reports, Tierney was determined to be impaired. He was placed under arrest, according to police, at 1:27 a.m.
Upon processing, police said they revealed “a bundle of white wax paper baggies stamped ‘FLY HIGH’ held together with a small black rubber band,” located in Tierney’s front, right short’s pocket. After submitting to a blood test, conducted by Community Ambler Ambulance around 2:59 a.m., according to police, test results showed Tierney’s blood was found to have Fentanyl (28 ng/mL) and Norfentanyl (18 ng/mL). Lab tests on the white, wax paper baggies concluded that their residue consisted of Acetyl fentanyl (a Schedule I substance), Fentanyl (a Schedule II substance), Fluor fentanyl (a Schedule I substance), and Xylazine (a Schedule III substance), police said.
Tierney was charged with driving under the influence of a controlled substance impaired ability, DUI of a controlled substance metabolite, DUI of a controlled substance Schedule 2 or 3, possession of a controlled substance by a person not registered to do so, disregarding of a single traffic lane, and an accident, damage to unattended vehicle or property.
Tierney is slated for a preliminary hearing before Magisterial District Judge Douglas H. Lavenberg on Sept. 13 at 10:30 a.m.
All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using public court records.
