YOUNGSTOWN — The attorney for Dylan Walters, 25, of North Yorkshire Boulevard in Austintown, has asked Judge John Durkin of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court to suppress evidence from his criminal case, for which he is indicted on 12 charges.

He is indicted on three counts of aggravated vehicular assault, three counts of vehicular assault, four counts of felony child endangering and two counts of driving under the influence for a crash that injured a woman in another car, Walters and two children in his car.

Defense attorney Damian Billak filed a motion Wednesday asking that a test of Walters’ coordination and / or sobriety be suppressed, as well as statements taken from Walters and observations and opinions of officers regarding Walters’ sobriety and / or alcohol and / or drug level.

The filing says those pieces of evidence were taken unlawfully because officers had no probable cause to stop or detain Walters or probable cause to arrest him without a warrant.

Another reason to throw out the evidence is that the test or tests given to determine Walters’ alcohol or drug level were “unconstitutionally coerced” “due to the threat of loss of license not sanctioned” by Ohio law. Furthermore, the person administering the test did not conduct it within the time limit and regulations of Ohio law, Billak alleges.

Troopers with the Canfield post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol investigated the crash, which happened at 7:50 a.m. March 12, 2021, on state Route 46 between Kirk and Shields roads.

Jessica Kohler, 42, of Canfield, was northbound on Route 46. Walters was southbound on Route 46 when he drove left of center and struck Kohler’s vehicle head-on, the patrol stated in a news release. Both vehicles then traveled off the east side of the road into a ditch.

Walters’ two occupants, ages 7 and 5, wore seat belts and were properly restrained, the patrol noted. Kohler and Walters were not wearing seat belts, the patrol said. The children in Walters’ car were taken to Akron Children’s Hospital in Akron, one of them in critical condition, the other in stable condition.

The crash left the driver of the other vehicle, a GMC Acadia, in critical condition later at St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital.

Billak’s filing states that at the time a police officer “seized” Walters after the crash, “the facts and circumstances within the officer’s knowledge were insufficient to warrant a prudent person in believing that the defendant was violating” the drunken driving laws.

The filing states that any evidence obtained from an “illegal stop, detention and arrest cannot be used against the defendant.” The filing states that Walters “further contends that the statements taken from him and the tests conducted on him were taken in violation” of his rights.

There is “nothing in the record or the officer’s report that indicated that (Walters) was driving erratically or that there were any other moving violation that would give rise to a reasonable suspicion of the defendant … driving under the influence,” the filing states.

“Had the officers observed erratic driving, only then could the officer further investigate the defendant for evidence if impaired driving,” the filing states. Prosecutors have not yet filed reply to Billak’s filing.