Powell man arrested after crash in Byron

A Powell man was arrested Saturday after crashing his car with two young children aboard into a historic cabin on Main Street in Byron.

According to Wyoming Highway Patrol trooper Crosby Ralston, a silver Nissan Maxima was westbound on U.S.14A at mile marker 39 on the east end of town when the trooper attempted to turn around and make a traffic stop for following too close. The driver was going approximately 70 miles per hour entering Byron in a 30 mph zone and passed another vehicle in the right lane to get away from the trooper, Ralston said.

“The driver admitted he saw me turn around but did not see or hear my lights/sirens as he got too far into town before I got turned around,” Ralston said. “I got to town and observed the vehicle off the road to the right inside the historic log cabin.”

Ralston said the vehicle crashed at approximately 60 mph while the driver was attempting to make a righthand turn on North Heart Mountain Street in order to avoid the traffic stop.

“Upon arriving on scene I observed the driver -- Patrick Carney, a 26-year-old male out of Powell -- and a 5-year-old girl in a car seat (rear driver side) and a 2-year-old boy in a car seat (rear passenger side),” Ralston said. “(There were) no injuries to anyone in the vehicle and (the three) were cleared from EMS.

“Patrick Carney admitted to drinking alcohol, and I could smell the odor of an alcoholic beverage emitting from his breath. We later went through Standardized Field Sobriety Tests where Carney was placed under arrest for DUI. Carney blew a 0.104% BAC at 2001 hours (8:01 p.m.). The children were released to their mother safely.”

Ralston said Carney was arrested and cited for DUI, child endangerment x2 (each child), reckless driving, open container, lane use, following too close, failure to provide proof of insurance and failure to carry a driver’s license.