Driver cited for DUII

An Oregon State Police officer investigated a driving accident that occurred at around 6:15 p.m. on March 5 at Ona Beach State Park.

A female identified as Linda Irene Cozine, 65, of Dunes City, was driving a Mercury Mountaineer and was attempting to make a right turn into the state park parking lot when “some type of a box was struck and driven on top of,” according to the OSP report.

Cozine was reportedly disoriented and was transported to Samaritan Pacific Communities Hospital in Newport. The officer made contact with Cozine and she was impaired, according to the police report. She completed a breath test that showed her to have a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.22 percent. She was cited and released for DUII and reckless driving.

The vehicle was towed from the scene by Rowley’s Towing.

Man cited for driving while suspended

A 53-year-old Lincoln City man was cited for driving while suspended and driving uninsured following a single-vehicle crash at around 1:15 p.m. on Feb. 24.

According to an Oregon State Police report, Jared William Smith was driving a Chevrolet Cavalier south on Highway 101 in the Moolack Beach area north of Newport when he crashed the vehicle into a tree off of the southbound shoulder. 

He was cited and released on the above-mentioned charges and also on two outstanding warrants.

His vehicle was towed to an impound lot by Coast Towing.

Hit-and-run crash east of Newport

An Oregon State Police officer responded at around 12:30 p.m. on Feb. 25 to a report of a hit-and-run crash on Highway 20 about two miles east of Newport.

A Ford Explorer was traveling west on Highway 20 when the driver slowed and then stopped near milepost 2 while waiting for another stopped vehicle to make a left turn off of the highway. A third vehicle, described in the OSP report as “a blue with silver newer sedan, possibly a Honda,” rear-ended the Explorer and then sped off. The vehicle causing the crash was not located, according to the OSP report.

Waldport man charged with DUII

An Oregon State Police officer responded at around 4:15 p.m. on March 3 to a report of a driving complaint in the Waldport area involving a white Ford Explorer.

The state trooper located the vehicle parked in the Keady Wayside parking lot. After observing the Explorer for a short time, the officer watched as the driver pulled out of the parking lot, drove over a curb and nearly hit the seawall.

When the officer conducted a traffic stop, he recognized the vehicle and driver as the suspect in a DUII investigation conducted by the Newport Police Department about 18 hours earlier, where the driver had been taken into custody for DUII.

As the state trooper continued his investigation, he noticed the driver was visibly intoxicated and smelled strongly of alcohol, according to the police report, and there were open containers of alcohol in plain sight in the vehicle. The driver, identified as Daniel Robert Chewning, 39, of Waldport, refused to perform field sobriety tests but admitted to being intoxicated, according to the report. He was taken into custody and transported to the Lincoln County Jail, where he consented to a breath test showing him to have a blood-alcohol concentration of .26 percent, more than three times the legal limit. 

Chewning was lodged in the jail on charges of DUII and reckless driving, and he was also cited for driving while suspended, driving uninsured, having an open container of alcohol in the vehicle and failing to install an ignition interlock device.

The Ford Explorer was impounded.

Car break-in near Fogarty Creek State Park

A Hyundai Santa Fe was broken into on March 6 while parked near milepost 125 on Highway 101 southbound, adjacent to Fogarty Creek State Park. The occupants got out of the vehicle between 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. and spent time on the beach, and when they came back, a door was ajar and a purse and a jacket had been stolen, according to an Oregon State Police report.

No suspect was identified in the case.

Cars broken into at beach access

An Oregon State Police officer was dispatched at around 3:10 p.m. on March 6 to investigate a report of thefts from several vehicles parked at the Wade Creek Moolack Beach access point on Highway 101 near milepost 135.

The windows of three vehicles had been broken out, and items were stolen from each one, including wallets, driver’s licenses and employee access IDs, according to the police report. One victim reported having a brief interaction with the suspect and saw him leave the area in a “robin’s egg blue” Ford Mustang with unknown California plates. 

The suspect was described as a slender white male, approximately 40 to 45 years of age, gray hair and possibly balding, clean-shaven, with blue eyes. He was last seen wearing a green “beanie” and a plaid shirt. An attempt to locate the suspect was unsuccessful,