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Jim Thorpe woman faces DUI charges

A Carbon County woman faces several charges of driving under the influence for her role in a car crash last year.

Brooke Berger, 24, of Jim Thorpe, faces two counts of driving under the influence — controlled substance, and one count each of careless driving, driving vehicle at an unsafe speed, and overtaking vehicle on the left.She is scheduled to have a preliminary hearing at 1:45 p.m. Feb. 3 before District Judge Casimir Kosciolek of Lansford.According to the affidavit of probable cause filed by Nesquehoning Police Chief Sean Smith:On Oct. 10 at 1:12 p.m., Smith was dispatched for a motor vehicle accident on Route 209.Police were called to the scene where a vehicle went off the road and into the woods on a section on Route 209 between Jim Thorpe and Nesquehoning boroughs commonly referred to as the “Chunk Highway.”When Smith arrived, firefighters were frantically looking for the vehicle, and said the female driver who was being treated in the ambulance insisted she had a male passenger with her.Police thought that there was a male passenger who was possibly ejected from the 2004 silver Chevrolet Cavalier.Smith talked to a witness who said he saw the vehicle traveling at a high rate of speed and entering the opposing traffic lane, striking the guardrail before crashing in the woods.The witness said there was no one else in the car with the woman, and that when he approached the woman, she did not seem right.The witness said he kept telling Berger to put her vehicle in park, and she would not respond and appeared to be under the influence. No male passenger was found.Smith examined the vehicle, and saw the passenger side window was intact and there were no signs of ejection. He also saw a six-pack of empty Bud Light beer bottles.Berger denied being under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance, but Smith said her eyes were red and glassy.Berger agreed to a blood test, and was transported to Lehighton Hospital for treatment.After leaving the ambulance, Smith saw a silver Nissan Pathfinder on the berm of the northbound lane with its four-ways on.As he approached the driver, identified as Shawn P. Coll, Smith could see he was visibly upset.Coll said the woman in the silver Cavalier struck his vehicle twice before she hit the guardrail and went off the road.Coll said he was traveling north on Route 209 and at one point he looked up in his rearview mirror and there was no vehicle behind him.He said he looked back in his rearview mirror and saw the Cavalier approaching him in the northbound lane at a high rate of speed.Coll said the Cavalier then struck the “7 o’clock position” of his vehicle, which made his vehicle begin to veer, and he began to lose control.He said the Cavalier struck him a second time by his front fender, which made him regain control of his vehicle.Coll said he looked at the driver and saw a woman’s head slumped on the steering wheel as if she were asleep.He said the Cavalier went into the opposing lane of travel, striking the guardrail, and then went off the road into the woods.Coll’s vehicle was drivable.Berger tested positive for a metabolite of cocaine.