Man had children in car when he hit another vehicle

SUNBURY – NorthcentralPa.com reports that police have charged a Sunbury man after he followed a woman in his vehicle and intentionally rear-ended her while driving with two young children.

Jared James Hewlett, 30, was charged after he allegedly drove drunk with young children in his vehicle and followed the woman through the streets of Sunbury on the evening of Oct. 22.

According to the affidavit from Officer Gary Bregensir of the Sunbury Police Department, this is what happened:

Hewlett had been drinking alcohol before he began following the woman in his vehicle. At the time, Hewlett had two small children in the vehicle. The accuser had a female passenger.

The woman called the Northumberland County communications center while she was driving and reported that her boyfriend, Hewlett, was following her.

The accuser had stopped on South Second Street at the entrance to Veterans Bridge and got out to try to pull the children from Hewlett’s vehicle.

At that point, Hewlett attempted to run over the accuser while she was standing on the side of the road. As she got back into the vehicle and drove away, Hewlett continued to follow her. Hewlett then began ramming his vehicle into the rear of the accuser’s vehicle on the 300 block of Market Street.

Police found Hewlett at his home and took him into custody. Hewlett admitted that he followed the accuser around Sunbury with two small children in the back seat. He also admitted to police that he had been drinking, but claimed he only had one drink.

His girlfriend applied for a temporary protection from abuse order, which was served on Hewlett.

Police charged Hewlett with two misdemeanor counts of endangering the welfare of children, as well as misdemeanor counts of harassment, reckless driving and negligent driving. District Judge Rachel Wiest-Benner set unsecured bail at $20,000. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Dec. 3.