Man charged with DUI after car plows through picket fence in Spokane neighborhood

Spokane police arrested a 33-year-old man suspected of driving under the influence Sunday morning after his car veered off the road and mowed down 50 feet of picket fencing in the Emerson-Garfield neighborhood.

Officers responded shortly after 10 a.m. to the area of Ash Street and Cleveland Avenue, Cpl. Ron Van Tassel said in a news release.

The car had been traveling south on Ash when it collided with the fence and then came to a stop, Van Tassel said. The vehicle sustained heavy front-end damage, including a picket lodged in the grill, he said. Some of the fence boards struck the home loudly enough to startle people inside, he said.

Police arrested the driver, Belton Lomae, on suspicion of drunken driving and driving with a suspended license. Van Tassel said Lomae showed signs of intoxication, and a preliminary breath test found twice the legal limit of alcohol in his blood.

Van Tassel said Lomae has criminal convictions from several states, including a prior DUI conviction from Washington in 2008. Lomae was booked into the Spokane County Jail with bond set at $2,000.