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Thorpe man faces DUI, drug charges

Donald Krauss, 32, of 97 Redwood Drive, Jim Thorpe, faces charges from an incident which took place on Oct. 28, 2009 on W. Bertsch Street, Lansford. Charges of two counts of DUI and unlawful possession of a controlled substance were filed by Officer Robert Shubeck.

According to an affidavit of probable cause, here's what happened:Shubeck saw a four-door black Lexus sedan operating with illegal window tint that blocked the officer from seeing the interior of the car. He stopped the car and told the driver why. Shubeck told the driver he would be getting a warning and would be free to go after Shubeck checked his license. Shubeck noticed the driver was acting very nervous as he gave the officer his paperwork. Shubeck also saw that his eyes were watery, dilated and appeared red. He did not smell the odor of an alcoholic beverage.The license, which identified the driver as Krauss, was good, and Shubeck gave him a warning about the tint and told him he could go.Before Krauss left, Shubeck asked him if he knew the male who had come up to his car before the officer stopped him; Krauss said he did not. Shubeck asked Krauss if he could search his car and Krauss consented.When Krauss got out of the car, Shubeck noticed that his gait was unsteady and that he appeared nervous and shakey. The circumstances and that Krauss was very fidgety lead Shubeck to believe he was under the influence of some type of drug.Lansford officer Joshua Tom assisted Shubeck in searching Krauss' car. The driver's seat cushion had a large tear in it, in which Tom found a very small amount of a white powdery substance clumped together in a "rock," which, from Shubeck's training and experience, appeared to be crack cocaine. Testing later revealed it to be cocaine.Shubeck arrested Krauss for drug possession, and found that he had a large sum of money on his person, which was returned to Krauss.Shubeck asked Krauss if he was under the influence of drugs while driving, and he replied that he "may have marijuana in his system."Shubeck told Krauss that the circumstances indicated he was driving under the influence. A blood test showed marijuana, cocaine metabolite and opiates.