Cody man alleged to have hit four vehicles while impaired

Posted 7/27/21

A 24-year-old man is in custody after he hit multiple vehicles before crashing and passing out Thursday night in Powell.

Michael “Quinn” Levario, of Cody, is alleged to have been under …

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Cody man alleged to have hit four vehicles while impaired

Personnel from Powell Valley Healthcare and the Powell Volunteer Fire Department load Michael Levario into an ambulance after he crashed and passed out on Avenue E. He’s facing a DUI charge in connection with the incident.
Personnel from Powell Valley Healthcare and the Powell Volunteer Fire Department load Michael Levario into an ambulance after he crashed and passed out on Avenue E. He’s facing a DUI charge in connection with the incident.
Tribune photo by Mark Davis
Posted

A 24-year-old man is in custody after he hit multiple vehicles before crashing and passing out Thursday night in Powell.

Michael “Quinn” Levario, of Cody, is alleged to have been under the influence of either alcohol or a controlled substance at the time of the incident. Powell police say Levario appeared to have overdosed on opioids and officers found a syringe with a dark blue liquid and “numerous” alcoholic beverages inside his truck.

Levario has been charged with three misdemeanor counts: driving while under the influence for a second time in 10 years, careless driving and failing to stop and notify the owner after a crash. He pleaded not guilty to the charges at a Friday morning appearance in Park County Circuit Court.

Powell police responded to the area of Avenue E and Edmonds Street around 10:11 p.m. Thursday, after getting a report that a Dodge pickup had hit numerous parked vehicles and the driver was unresponsive. Police would ultimately find that Levario had hit three vehicles before running into the back of a Ford Explorer and coming to a stop.

When Officer Reece McLain approached the Dodge, he saw Levario “slumped towards the passenger side” and was unable to revive him. Levario’s lips were green and blue and he appeared to be choking, McLain wrote, but he began responding after medical personnel from Powell Valley Healthcare administered Narcan; it’s a drug used to reverse opioid overdoses.

Levario “appeared to be confused, asking where he was and who had found him,” also asking “if he was getting another DUI,” McLain wrote. Court records show that, among about a dozen misdemeanor offenses and citations from the past, Levario was convicted of driving while under the influence of a controlled substance in May 2017.

Levario was involved in a crash earlier this year, too. On the night of Jan. 10, his 2009 Dodge Caliber went through a fence and rolled into a ditch along Lane 13. A passerby spotted the overturned vehicle and contacted the Park County Sheriff’s Office, but first responders found no one in the area.

The following  morning, Levario called the sheriff’s office to report the crash, saying he had been a passenger in his vehicle. Levario said he had been too drunk to drive and had gotten a ride from a stranger he found at a bar.

Levario reportedly told the sheriff’s office that he passed out, waking up to find the car on its top and the driver — whose name he did not know — running away. He was cited for failing to immediately report an accident when the driver is physically incapable of doing so and paid $90 for the offense.

Given Levario’s condition, the officer did not perform sobriety tests following Thursday’s crash, and Levario declined to answer questions without an attorney present. However, authorities did take a blood sample for testing.

At Friday’s court appearance, Circuit Court Judge Bruce Waters set Levario’s bond at $5,000 and he remained in jail on Monday afternoon. If he does post bond, Levario will be prohibited from driving “for any reason” while the case is pending, among other conditions. A trial is tentatively scheduled for Sept. 30.

(Editor's note: The story has been updated to correct the number of vehicles that were struck. The affidavit submitted in support of the charge says that five vehicles were hit, but police say that was an error and that the correct total is four.)

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