A Berkeley Springs woman was arrested last Saturday, April 14 after allegedly crashing into a motorcyclist while she was driving under the influence.
Lt. Seth Place of the Morgan County Sheriff’s Department charged Heather L. Beckwith, 26, of Wilkes Street with DUI causing serious bodily injury following a two-vehicle crash on River Road.
According to a criminal complaint filed in Morgan County Magistrate Court, Lt. Place responded to a report of the accident between U.S. 522 and Fairview Drive along River Road shortly before 11:30 p.m. on Friday night.
Upon arrival at the scene, Lt. Place reportedly found a male sitting on the ground along River Road suffering from severe injuries to his legs and feet. The motorcyclist told police he had been heading toward U.S. 522 when a car coming toward him crossed the center yellow line and struck him. He slid to where police found him.
According to the complaint, Lt. Place saw blood coming through the man’s jeans and observed that his boots were torn open and his toes were bleeding and appeared to be possibly amputated. The man was transported by EMS to the hospital for treatment.
While on the scene, a Jeep pulled up to first responders and said his female passenger was the driver of the vehicle that struck the motorcycle earlier.
Lt. Place alleged that the female, later identified as Heather Beckwith, was unable to complete field sobriety tests. She was arrested for DUI causing bodily injury and is being held at the Eastern Regional Jail in lieu of a $10,000 cash or surety bond.
Cpl. Scott Lemon is investigating the crash. Other charges are pending against Beckwith related to the accident.
