Kittatinny Mayor Gustavus G. Petykiewicz was drunk driving and hit an innocent man at an intersection just after 1p.m. on Saturday. 

Deputy Gordon J. Slivovitz received a call about a vehicle accident on the east side of Highway 117. Gustavus G. Petykiewicz, 64, was under the influence of alcohol when he hit 50-year-old Robert H. Doane. Kittatinny’s new budget crisis goes from bad to worse as the mayor’s drunk driving accident placed him in a position making him unable to solve the crisis. 

The ambulance arrived at the scene at 1:23p.m. Doane was heavily bleeding from the head and complaining of abdominal pain but conscious. Petykiewicz was not wearing a seatbelt, but Doane had his seatbelt on with no signs of airbags. Petykiewicz was slurring his words but received no injuries. 

The mayor is battling adversity due to the Kittatinny production plant closing. The situation has put about 900 people into unemployment which is increasing the city’s tax revenue. 

Thinking he could drink his problems away, Petykiewicz was caught with a half-empty bottle of Fleischmann’s vodka on the floor of his passenger side and when asked if he’d been drinking, he responded with “you’d be drinking too if you were me”. 

Petykiewicz consented to a breath test and showed a blood alcohol count of .14 which is over the legal limit of .08 for intoxicated driving in Pennsylvania. He stumbled and failed his field sobriety test which contributed to his arrest. 

Flight for Life was summoned and arrived at the scene at about 2p.m. to take Doane to Northeast Pennsylvania Hospital and Trauma Center in Wilkes-Barre for his injuries. 

A witness reported that Doane was driving at about 55 miles per hour when Petykiewicz hesitated at the stop sign and crossed the road and struck Doane on the side of his vehicle. 

Petykiewicz was taken to Schuylkill County Jail in downtown Kittatinny. His wife, Gloria Petykiewicz, came and picked him up from the jail at 3:02p.m. and bailed him out for $500. 

Doane is in satisfactory condition but has several broken ribs, a broken jaw, and lasting damage to his head, chest, and abdomen. Petykiewicz will face jail time for this felony and could be as long as 10 years for causing severe bodily harm to another due to operating while intoxicated.