Austintown man charged for drunk hit and run after 16 prior OVI convictions

AUSTINTOWN, Ohio - Austintown police have arrested a man for a hit-and-run crash after he's been convicted of 16 other OVI-related incidents.
A driver of a vehicle transporting handicapped/disabled people called police to tell them they had been rear-ended by the driver and he fled down Ohltown Road.
This happened Thursday around 2 p.m.
When police went to the home where the vehicle was registered, no one was there.
They then headed to the home of the registered driver's brother, 61-year-old David Black, and saw the silver Chevrolet Silverado in the backyard with keys in the vehicle and damage to the front of the vehicle.
They spoke with the brother of the suspect, who said he had loaned the vehicle to his brother to load lumber in the bed of the truck from a pool that was torn down, according to the police report.
Police then located the woman that lives with Black and she told them he was inside drunk and sleeping.
She let officers in to speak with Black, who denied driving the vehicle in question or being involved in an accident, according to police.
Police said his speech was very slurred and there was a slight odor of an alcoholic beverage on his breath.
Officers were able to determine that Black was highly intoxicated and may have been under his medication as well.
Police then arrested Black and learned he did not have a valid driver's license and had been involved with 16 other OVI-related incidents.
Two felony OVI convictions occurred in 2009 and 2018, along with 14 other OVI convictions dating all the way back to 1977.
While on the way to the county jail, police said Black began punching the partition between the driver area and back seat with his fists and head.
Police said he tried telling officers that he became intoxicated after he came home, but told police at his home that he had not drank since noon.
Black was booked on charges of OVI. He was also charged through the courts with hit-skip, failing to reinstate his license and assured clear distance.
He has a court date coming up on June 30.