A 53-year-old Newark man is facing dozens of charges after police say he drove a tractor-trailer through a residential Newark neighborhood before dawn last Saturday, striking 12 parked vehicles, a street sign and four mailboxes along the way. Officers say Brian Johnston displayed signs of impairment when they found him, and a search of his truck turned up fentanyl, crack cocaine and drug paraphernalia.
New Castle County police responded around 5:14 a.m. on September 5 to the 100 block of Melodic Drive in the Harmony Woods community after receiving a report of a tractor-trailer hitting parked vehicles, according to NBC10 Philadelphia. Investigators later mapped out the white International flatbed's path through the subdivision, tracing a continuous four-street route that began with two parked cars struck on Medley Drive, continued with three more on Duet Drive, then two on Melodic Drive, and ended with five vehicles hit on Acapella Court, according to a New Castle County Division of Police press release.
Truck Found Stopped, Driver Found on Foot
Johnston eventually stopped the tractor-trailer and exited it, according to police cited in the outlet's report. Emergency medical personnel, who were notified following the incident, found him on Melodic Drive and he was taken into custody without further incident. Field sobriety tests indicated that Johnston was impaired, according to police, and he was transported to New Castle County police headquarters.
A search connected to the incident turned up prescription medications, crack cocaine, fentanyl and drug paraphernalia inside the tractor-trailer, per the same account. Johnston was ultimately charged with one misdemeanor count of operating a commercial vehicle while impaired by drugs, three misdemeanor counts of possession of a controlled substance, and one misdemeanor count of possession of drug paraphernalia, in addition to one violation of inattentive driving.
Dozens of Hit-and-Run Counts Filed
The bulk of the charges stem from the sheer number of vehicles struck and left behind. Johnston faces 12 misdemeanor counts of leaving the scene of a property damage collision and 12 misdemeanor counts of failure to provide information at a collision scene, per the report. The New Castle County Division of Police also detailed that he was charged with 12 counts of leaving the scene of an accident involving a commercial motor vehicle and 12 counts of failure to report a collision to a police agency.
Those charges include provisions addressing commercial motor vehicles. Under Title 21, Section 4177M of the Delaware Code, the commercial-driver standard includes a blood alcohol concentration of 0.04% or higher and addresses operating while impaired by any drug, according to the Delaware General Assembly.
Legal Exposure Ahead
Delaware's general first-offense penalties for driving under the influence of drugs also carry up to six months in jail, fines between $500 and $1,500, and a license revocation lasting 12 to 24 months, according to the Law Offices of Murray, Phillips & Gay. Johnston was committed to the Howard R. Young Correctional Institution and was held in lieu of $3,825 secured bail, per the NBC10 Philadelphia report.
A Neighborhood Built for Local Traffic, Not Big Rigs
Harmony Woods is a 482-residence suburban development in Newark, with tree-lined residential streets and Amtrak tracks forming its northern boundary, according to ActiveRain. The incident occurred on residential streets in New Castle County.
The Delaware Office of Highway Safety has reported that 39% of fatal traffic crashes in Delaware between 2020 and 2024 were alcohol- or drug-related, according to the Delaware Office of Highway Safety.
Nationally, commercial trucking carries its own layer of drug-testing scrutiny. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration rules require motor carriers to conduct annual random drug testing on at least 25% of their safety-sensitive drivers. The federal Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse also tracks drug and alcohol violations. Whether Johnston was driving for a commercial motor carrier at the time, and whether he had previously been flagged through any federal drug-testing program, remains unknown.
