Published: December 08, 2005 11:39 pm      

DUI suspect is jailed after threats, scuffle with police

Somerset — A Somerset man with a history of drunken-driving arrests was jailed after he threatened police during a DUI traffic stop and kicked out a patrol car’s window, authorities said.

Borough police attempted to stop Michael Lee Hetrick, 40, after his 1998 Pontiac sedan failed to stop at an intersection at 7 p.m. Wednesday.

A court document shows police said Hetrick was uncooperative after finally stopping his car at a beverage business on East Main Street. Hetrick threatened Officer David Deist and refused to get back into his car, authorities said.

He was taken to Somerset Hospital, where police said he refused a chemical test.

The suspect told police that if they took him from the vehicle “the fight would be on.”

Hetrick also threatened to kill Deist and eat him like Hannibal Lecter, the psychotic murderer in the motion picture “The Silence of the Lambs.”

He was brought to Somerset Borough Police Department, where he kicked out the passenger-side rear window of the cruiser, police said.

It reportedly took a handful of borough officers and state troopers to subdue Hetrick.

Hetrick was arraigned by District Judge William Roush of Boswell on charges of terroristic threats, institutional vandalism, resisting arrest and DUI.

He also was charged with summary traffic offenses including driving with a license that was suspended because of a previous DUI charge.

Hetrick was sent to the Somerset County Jail after failing to post $25,000 bond.

Hetrick currently has a DUI case pending in Somerset County Court.



Patrick Buchnowski can be reached at 445-5103 or pbuchnowski@tribdem.com.