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AUSTINTOWN -- After an unknown driver struck a pole and fled, another man hit the abandoned car -- and is now facing OVI charges.
Nicholas Bortmas, 29, of Austintown, is accused of operating a vehicle impaired at about 3 a.m. Dec. 12 when he struck the empty vehicle on the passenger side with his black Chevrolet Cruze, according to the police report. Despite Bortmas saying multiple times that he wasn't driving, the officer observed him in the driver's seat and, the report states, noticed that his speech was slurred and his eyes were bloodshot and glossy.
There were multiple empty beer cans inside of his vehicle. Bortmas refused a field sobriety test so the officer arrested him.
Bortmas refused to comply with officers, and when they attempted to put him into a cruiser, he put his feet in the doorway, damaging the vehicle. At the Austintown Police Department he refused to provide a breath sample or fingerprints. He was released to his wife that morning.
Bortmas was issued a court summons for resisting arrest, driving under suspension, failure to transfer plates, failure to control, and OVI. He pleaded not guilty and will have a 9:30 a.m. Wednesday hearing in county court.