DUBOIS – A Sykesville man is accused of driving under the influence of narcotics following a traffic accident.
According to an affidavit of probable cause, filed in District Judge Patrick Ford’s office Oct. 7, Matthew Michael Silvis, 28, 121 Sykesville, is charged by the Sandy Township police with driving under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance, driving under the influence of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia and careless driving following a traffic accident Aug. 1.
According to the affidavit, police were called to a traffic accident on the Bee-line Highway near the off-ramp of Interstate 80. The vehicle was sitting in the middle of the railroad tracks with a trail of debris behind it.
The officers spoke to the driver, later identified as Silvis, who allegedly told police that he fell asleep while driving and ended up on the railroad tracks. The officers noted that Silvis allegedly had a very staggered gait, was slurring his speech and had problems keeping his eyes open, but they could not smell any alcohol.
After failing field sobriety tests, Silvis was handcuffed and searched. The officers allegedly found a small plastic bag containing white pills, an orange prescription pill bottle with no label that contained white pills and two containers of cold medicine still in the package.
After searching the vehicle, the officers allegedly found a glass pipe commonly used for smoking marijuana with a burned black residue and two plastic containers.
A drug recognition expert was called in, who allegedly identified the pills as tramadol, a Schedule IV drug; methocarbamol, a prescription drug; and tizanidine, a prescription drug. None of the prescription drugs were in their proper containers.
Silvis was taken to Penn Highlands DuBois for blood testing which came back positive for Ephedrine, Clonzepam, THC and Phenylpropanolamine.