By QUINTON SMITH/Lincoln Chronicle
WALDPORT – A Tidewater man arrested for drunken driving last week after hitting one vehicle and then plowing his truck into an auto repair shop had spent the previous Friday night in jail on another drunken driving charge.
The incident Monday, April 14, was the third drunken driving arrest of Scott D. Toates, 70, of Tidewater in the past 13 months. The second came the Friday before the Waldport crash when Oregon State Police arrested Toates after having his blood drawn for an alcohol test at the hospital in Newport.
Toates was already in a court-approved diversion program from a March 30, 2024 arrest and October 2024 guilty plea for driving drunk.
Oregon State Police say Toates drove his Dodge Ram pickup east through the intersection of Highway 34 and U.S. Highway 101 at 6:18 p.m. Monday, April 14, struck a Washington couple’s van and then went all the way into the front room Waldport Tire & Auto. No one was injured.
As the truck was being pulled from inside Waldport Tire & Auto, police arrested Toates for the second time in four days – this time for driving under the influence, reckless driving, recklessly endangering another person and criminal mischief.
But it wasn’t enough for another jail stay. Toates was back at the repair shop the next day looking for his truck that had been towed, the shop owner said Monday.
Waldport Tire & Auto still has plywood covering half of its storefront and a temporary entry door. Toates’ truck tore through a short concrete foundation wall, knocking out the entry door and half of the front wall and then completely into the tire display area, bending a steel pole that helps support a wood ceiling beam.
A state police report said an officer arrested Toates for drunken driving, took him to the county jail for a toxicology test and then to Samaritan Pacific Communities Hospital in Newport where he was criminally cited.
Just three days earlier on April 11, a motorist called 9-1-1 to report Dodge Ram pickup truck “was all over the road” as it headed north into Newport, according to a Lincoln County circuit court probable cause affidavit by state police Trooper Alex Munsee. Munsee was eventually able to get Toates to pull into the parking lot of the Samaritan urgent care clinic, where Toates told him he was headed to the emergency room because he was dizzy. But Munsee smelled alcohol on Toates and both he and a Newport officer saw full and empty bottles of alcohol in the truck, the affidavit said.
A sheriff’s deputy took Toates to the emergency room, where he consented to a blood draw to determine his blood-alcohol level. In his affidavit, Munsee said the hospital called later to say Toates blood-alcohol level was above the .08 legal limit for driving “but were unable to tell me the exact number.”
Toates spent the night of Friday, April 11 in jail and was released Saturday, April 12, according to jail records.
But the paperwork from his Monday, April 14 arrest apparently did not catch up to court records from his Friday, April 11 arrest.
On Wednesday, April 16, two days after his Waldport arrest, Toates was arraigned on the April 11 drunk driving charge, agreed to not have or use any alcohol, not enter any bars, taverns or liquor stores and wear an ankle bracelet that monitors alcohol use. His next court appearance on the April 11 charges is May 5.
Circuit Judge Pro Tem Joseph Allison oversaw the 2024 case and diversion agreement and presided over Toates’ April 16 arraignment. The district attorney’s office filed paperwork objecting to the possibility of diversion in the April 11 case because Toates was already in a diversion program.
It gets worse, according to court records. The same day that Toates was arraigned, court records say he bounced a $50 check – just the fourth installment in $490 restitution ordered in the diversion agreement from his 2024 drunken driving plea.
No court date has been set for charges from Toates’ April 14 arrest.
Thank you for reporting this story. This story will help advise the community of the dangers of drinking and driving. My thoughts and prayers go out to the people affected by this careless act and I hope everyone has a speedy recovery.
Concerned Local Tidewater resident
Obviously, this man needs his license taken away. Not familiar with the laws in this state, but Ohio really cracked down on drunk drivers. As an addictions counselor for 20 years, I know intervention can work, but the courts et al need to enforce it.
Are you kidding? Lincoln County courts, shame on you. What’s it going to take? Someone being hit and killed by this guy? Jail him or take away his license. It’s beyond ridiculous that he’s still on the road. Shame on you.
Thank you very much for making the community aware of Lincoln County’s problem. I pray people do not feel this is an isolated incident. I just want me and my loved ones safe out there.
Lincoln County needs punitive actions on DUII infractions. We live in an area with especially dangerous roads and highways. To get just about anywhere you need to travel a two lane highway where the only thing separating oncoming traffic is paint. Fatal head on collisions here are a common occurrence and anyone convicted of DUII should have their license revoked and vehicle become the property of the county.