YOUNGSTOWN — David T. Black, 62, of Ohltown Road in Austintown, pleaded guilty Tuesday to his 17th drunken driving offense and will be sentenced to at least four months in prison.

Black pleaded guilty before Judge John Durkin of Mahoning County Common Please Court to his third felony drunken driving offense, a third-degree felony punishable by up to three years in prison. Black is required by law to serve at least four months in prison, pay a $1,350 fine, serve a driver’s license suspension of between three years and life and attend an alcohol treatment program, Joseph Maxin, assistant prosecutor, said.

Maxin said Black has never been to prison.

Black will be sentenced at 1 p.m. Jan. 5 after a presentence investigation of Black’s background is compiled.

Black’s two earlier felony drunken driving offenses were in January 2018 and December 2009, both in Mahoning County, according to Black’s indictment. His 14 other offenses were misdemeanors that dated back to 1977, police said.

An Austintown police report states Black hit the back of a van carrying disabled people and fled the scene June 10 at Silica and Ohltown roads.

When police arrived after the 3:11 p.m. crash, the pickup truck involved was gone. The van driver told police she tried to stop the driver of the truck, but he drove past her at high speed and she was unable to get a good look at him.

Austintown officers went to the home of the registered owner, but the vehicle was not there. Then they tried Black’s house and found the truck in the rear yard of his home with the keys in the vehicle. No one answered the door at the home. The truck had front-end damage that matched the grill recovered at the crash, police said. The truck was towed.

Black’s girlfriend was located in the back yard. She allowed police inside the home where Black was asleep on the couch. Black denied being in an accident or leaving the scene, but his speech was slurred, and a slight odor of alcoholic beverage was on his breath, police said.

The owner of the truck told police Black was not supposed to drive it, only load it with lumber because he has no driver’s license.

Police took Black to the police station and charged him with drunken driving, leaving the scene of an accident, driving under suspension and failure to maintain assured clear distance.

The Austintown police report does not indicate there were any injuries in the crash.

erunyan@vindy.com