Driver at fault in fatal crash had multiple DUI convictions

By Carol McIntire

Editor

The driver at fault in a March 20 fatal crash was sentenced just six days earlier on a reduced charge stemming from a felony indictment for Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol or Drugs and released.

Patrick Snow, 71, of Malvern died in the crash, which occurred on Andora Rd. (County Rd. 10) in Augusta Twp. at 7:05 p.m.

According to Sergeant Clinton D. Armstrong of the new Philadelphia Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol, Dakota A. Kincaid, 26, of East Rochester was driving a 2010 Ford Escape northbound on Andora Rd. The Escape traveled left of center and struck a 2020 Chrysler Voyager, driven by Snow, which was traveling south. The Escape went off the right side of the roadway, struck a tree and overturned. The Voyager traveled off the right side of the road and came to rest.

Snow was transported to Aultman Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

 Armstrong said Snow was wearing a seat belt; Kincaid was not. 

The 2010 Escape was titled to Fred Bugay of Minerva.

Armstrong told The Messenger alcohol is suspected to be a factor in the crash.

“One of our units spoke with Mr. Kincaid at the hospital (Mercy, where Kincaid was taken with serious injuries) and based on the interactions with Kincaid, it is believed alcohol is a factor,” Armstrong said. “We are working to get warrants for blood tests taken at the hospital.”

Kincaid was indicted Nov. 1, 2023, by a Carroll County grand jury on one count of Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol or Drugs (DUI) and one count of DUI With Refusal to Submit to Test, both fourth-degree felonies. During a change of plea and sentencing hearing March 14 in Common Pleas Court, one count of DUI was dismissed, and the other was reduced to Having Physical Control of a Vehicle While Under the Influence, a first-degree misdemeanor.

Kincaid was placed on a one-year probation and sentenced to 180 days in the county jail and given credit for 19 days of jail time served. The balance of the jail sentence was suspended. His bond was canceled, and he was released.

Kincaid has three prior convictions for DUI, all in Carroll County Municipal Court, in the last eight years, although his interactions with law enforcement and court system date back to 2015 when he was charged Municipal Court with Underage Consumption and Open Container. On that charge, he was sentenced to 180 days in jail with 170 suspended and credit for three days served. 

Kincaid returned to Municipal Court in November 2018, charged with Possession of Drugs and Drug Paraphernalia Offenses. Due to Kincaid’s successful completion of the Diversion Program, the charges were dismissed.

His first conviction for Driving Under the Influence came in February 2016. His jail sentence was suspended on condition he complete Quest treatment. A charge for Failure to Comply with the Signal or Order of a Police Officer was dismissed as was a charge for Failure to Obey a Traffic Light. 

On Nov. 30, 2018, Kincaid was charged with Driving Under the Influence and sentenced in January 2019 to 180 days in jail with 120 days suspended and credit for 34 days served. His driver’s license was suspended for two years.

Ten months after his sentencing, (October 2019) he was again sentenced in Municipal Court on a DUI charge. He was sentenced to 90 days in jail. The jail sentence was suspended, and he was placed on a two-year probation and ordered not to own a vehicle during his probation.

In 2022, he was charged with Disorderly Conduct and in 2023 with Assault. In both those cases, he was sentenced to jail and the sentence suspended.

Armstrong said OSP will gather evidence and submit it to the county prosecutor’s office. 

“It is up to them as to what charges to file,” he said. 

 Carroll County sheriff deputies, Augusta Fire Department, Sandy Creek Fire Department, EMT, McNinch Towing and Prendergast Towing assisted at the scene. 

The crash remains under investigation.