By Jessie Burchette
jburchette@salisburypost.com
A Rockwell man may have a record number of pending driving while impaired charges.
Danny Lee Peeler Jr. 40, Burchette Drive, was charged on April 14 with driving while impaired after an accident near Rockwell.
According to court records, Peeler now has four pending DWI cases in court.
He is currently out on probation and is also awaiting a court date later this month on a probation violation.
His driving license was revoked several years ago.
District Attorney Bill Kenerly said last week he doesn’t recall ever seeing one person with four pending DWI cases.
“They’ve all occurred within a year,” Kenerly said. “Somebody keeps bailing him out.”
Going through his record, Kenerly noted Peeler was charged with DWI twice in 1990, DWI in a motorboat in 1996 and DWI again in 2006.
He was tried in April 2008 and placed on probation for the 2006 charge. Peeler is set to appear in Rowan District Court on May 5 for the probation violation.
He has a series of court dates in May dealing with DWI, driving while license revoked and related charges.
Kenerly said it’s likely that the cases have been delayed while awaiting the results of blood tests. “It’s almost certainly the blood test issue,” he said.
Trooper C.F. Killian of the motor carrier division of the N.C. Highway Patrol lodged the most recent DWI charge.
Killian was filling in for municipal police officers who were in court on April 14 when he responded to an accident at the intersection of U.S. 52 and Sunset Street.
According to Killian’s report, Peeler was driving a 1995 Pontiac. Witnesses said he drove through a traffic light and struck a 2002 Ford pickup driven by Wayne Jordan Hicks of Rockwell.
No one was injured.
Killian said it was obvious at the scene that Peeler had some type of impairment.
He had prescription pills in his car that Killian said had a warning not to take before driving.
“He said he didn’t drink (alcohol). I didn’t smell alcohol on him,” Killian said.
According to the officer, Peeler first claimed he was going to get more pills.
At that point, Killian said he told Peeler, “You’re on medication and don’t have a driver’s license.”
Peeler also told the officer he was going to the store to get something to eat.
Killian filed the fourth DWI charge along with other charges. “All I know is that it’s unusual to have that many pending DWI cases,” he said.
Checking Peeler’s record, he found seven pages of infractions.
Magistrate Todd Wyrick set Peeler’s bond at $5,000 with his court date on May 15.
Efforts by the Post to contact Peeler were unsuccessful.
Peeler has court dates set for May 5 on two counts of DWI and violation of a court order; simple possession of schedule 4 controlled substance and driving with a revoked license.
On May 15, he is scheduled to be back in court on charges of DWI, speeding and driving with a revoked license.
And on May 28, he is scheduled to appear on another DWI and revoked license charge.
Contact Jessie Burchette at 704-797-4254.