BOARDMAN — A local man charged with OVI and a firearm offense in June also will face a felony drug charge.

Melvin R. McKee III, 47, of Glenridge Road, was arrested in June after crashing into a pole. During a search of his vehicle, police found a metal mint box containing pills believed to be prescription amphetamines. On Monday, police received the results of lab tests done on the pills, confirming their suspicion. They added a charge of drug abuse or possession, a fifth-degree felony.

He is due in Mahoning County Boardman Court on Sept. 30 for a preliminary hearing on the charges.

The Boardman police report states that around 3 a.m. June 20, McKee was found unconscious in his truck after he went off the road and hit a pole at Mathews and Sheridan roads.

The report states that police tapped on the truck’s window until McKee woke up, but he remained disoriented and repeatedly dozed off multiple times before acknowledging police and opening his door.

The report states that a strong odor of alcohol came from McKee and the truck when he got out, and he had such difficulty maintaining his balance that he had to hold onto the truck to keep from falling down.

The report states that he failed multiple field sobriety tests and was charged with operating a vehicle impaired. While one officer tested him, another searched his vehicle and found an unloaded shotgun and 85 shotgun shells underneath the driver and passenger seats.

McKee pleaded guilty in December to OVI and improper handling of a firearm after a similar situation in November, when he crashed his truck into a pole at South Avenue and Moyer Avenue. A felony weapons charge as well as charges of drug possession and OVI refusal were dropped.

He served three days in jail and is still on probation from that case.

McKee’s troubled driving record goes all the way back to 2000 in Youngstown Municipal Court. In January of that year, five misdemeanor traffic charges, including permitting operation by an unlicensed driver, all were dismissed. But in March 2000, he was convicted of reckless operation and narrowly avoided an OVI after his blood-alcohol content could not be determined.

In October 2002 he was again convicted of reckless operation and placed on probation.

In 2003, he was convicted of driving an unsafe vehicle.

The charges get more serious in recent years, and a pattern of behavior emerges.

In 2007, he was charged with OVI, speeding and failure to yield the right of way in Boardman. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 180 days in jail, suspended, with one year reporting probation and an interlock device installed on his vehicle and ordered to undergo a drug and alcohol assessment.

In 2017 in Boardman, a charge of improper handling of a firearm was dismissed and an OVI charge pleaded down to failure to maintain physical control. He spent three days in jail, paid a fine, received one year of probation and a one-year license suspension, another drug and alcohol assessment and was ordered to complete a driver intervention program.

Then came last year’s charge and conviction, followed by the crash and charges this June.