Driver Caught Taking Himself To Traffic Court

Trooper Mark Hyer seems to know just where to find Phillip Welch.

First, Hyer cited Welch for a driving violation in October near Springdale.

Then, the same trooper spotted Welch again about 3 p.m. Monday on U.S. Highway 395.

This time, the State Patrol said, Welch, 38, was swerving in a northbound shoulder of the highway in his 1972 Ford pickup.

Welch of Springdale, told the trooper he was driving to the Stevens County District Court for an appearance on his previous traffic violations.

In his pickup were the tickets Hyer had written him more than two weeks earlier.

“I didn’t realize it was him until I walked up to his car,” Hyer said.

The trooper’s first encounter with Welch was at night. Hyer cited Welch on Oct. 18 for driving with a suspended license on state Highway 292 between Loon Lake and Springdale.

Monday, Hyer recognized his own handwriting when he looked at some of Welch’s paperwork.

“His attitude was, ‘Well, I have to go to court and there was no one to drive me,”’ Hyer said.

The trooper arrested Welch on charges of driving under the influence and driving with a suspended license.

Welch refused a breath test, saying he didn’t think he was drunk, according to Hyer.

“I gave him some field sobriety tests, which he did horribly on,” Hyer said.

WSP Sgt. Chris Powell said Welch faced even more bad news Monday.

Because he failed to appear in court that afternoon, a Stevens County judge issued an arrest warrant for him.

, DataTimes