Staff report

BOARDMAN — A 45-year-old Boardman woman is charged with operating a vehicle under the influence after an accident in which her pickup truck crashed into a fire hydrant near the Walmart plaza on South Avenue and flooded the road.

The driver and her passenger admitted to snorting heroin before the accident, police reported.

The 2003 Toyota driven by Danielle M. Tchoryk, of 5006 Firnley Ave., was traveling south on South Avenue in the curb lane and went off the right side of the roadway and struck a fire hydrant, according to the police report. Both Tchoryk and her passenger Lucienda Gaul, 48, of the same Boardman address, were unresponsive and unconscious. Boardman Fire Department personnel administrated two doses each of Narcan to the driver and passenger.

Shortly after being revived, Gaul told the paramedic she had “snorted heroin” before the crash.

Both women were later taken to St. Elizabeth Boardman Hospital, where officers questioned Tchoryk. According to the report, the driver told police she had “snorted a line” in a Save A Lot parking lot about 20 minutes before the crash. She said she was attempting to go to Walmart and “things started going black.”

Inside the vehicle, police found a broken syringe and torn plastic bag with unidentified residue. They also found a mirror with unknown residue inside a purse that also held a metal pill container, the report states.

Parts of the roadway were under water because of the hydrant crash. Crews were called in to clear the scene of the crash, which closed southbound lanes for a few hours.

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