Police: Man shot by gunman who takes car with infant inside

Pennsylvania Daybook

<p>PLYMOUTH TWP. &#8212; Stephen Miller&#8217;s blood alcohol level was more than three times the legal limit when a state trooper pulled him over June 12, according to an affidavit in Miller&#8217;s DUI case released to the Times Leader Monday.</p><p>The trooper&#8217;s affidavit, filed July 5 with Magisterial District Judge Donald Whittaker, says that when the trooper told Miller that he was under arrest for suspicion of DUI, Miller&#8217;s wife Caroline, who also was in the car, &#8220;exclaimed that I could not arrest him because their child was killed some time ago.&#8221;</p><p>State police said <a href="https://www.timesleader.com/news/562438/police-charge-father-of-kevins-law-namesake-with-dui-child-endangerment" target="_blank">the Millers, the parents of Kevin&#8217;s Law namesake Kevin Miller, were with their two minor children at the time of the stop</a> on state Route 11 in Plymouth Township.</p><p>A blood test later showed Stephen Miller had a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.273 percent at the time, the affidavit says, more than three times the maximum legal BAC of 0.08 percent.</p><p>Miller, a local dentist, is charged with two counts of driving under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance, two counts of endangering the welfare of children, careless driving and operating a vehicle without headlamps between sunset and sunrise.</p><p>The Millers previously had pushed for an increase in the minimum prison sentence for hit-and-run fatalities after they learned that Thomas Letteer Jr. could serve as little as a year in jail for fleeing the scene after striking and killing 5-year-old Kevin Miller while the family was crossing North Street in Wilkes-Barre on Dec. 21, 2012.</p><p>Despite testimony that Letteer had attended a party at a West Wyoming home and consumed alcohol on the night of Kevin&#8217;s death, he could not be charged with homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence, which carries a minimum three-year sentence, because he had fled the scene and his blood-alcohol level was unable to be ascertained.</p><p>Following Letteer&#8217;s sentencing, the Miller family joined prosecutors and lawmakers &#8212; including state Sen. Lisa Baker, R-Lehman Township, state Rep. Tarah Toohil, R-Butler Township, and state Rep. Mike Carroll, D-Avoca &#8212; at a press conference calling on state legislators to change the law.</p><p>An amendment to a Transportation Bill, which became known as Kevin&#8217;s Law, was passed in 2014 that included increasing the minimum penalty for leaving the scene of an accident involving death to three years.</p><p>The law was used in May when Harveys Lake resident Michael Scavone was convicted in the death of Paula Jones.</p><p>The trooper&#8217;s affidavit says Stephen Miller&#8217;s eyes were bloodshot and glassy at the time of June traffic stop, that he smelled of alcohol and that he was &#8220;extremely slow and sluggish&#8221; in removing his identification from his wallet. The trooper wrote that after Stephen Miller failed a field sobriety test, the trooper asked Caroline Miller to take a portable breathalyzer test to see if she could drive the car, but she refused, saying she would get a ride from someone else.</p><p>Stephen Miller is scheduled for a preliminary hearing for 1 p.m. on Aug. 17 before Whittaker in Nanticoke.</p><p>State police have declined to say whether or not Miller&#8217;s wife would be charged in connection with her husband&#8217;s alleged drunk driving.</p><p>Attempts to reach the Millers for comment Monday afternoon were unsuccessful.</p><style>
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<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/web1_web1_Miller_Stephen-5-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Stephen Miller </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/web1_web1_Miller_Stephen-5-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Stephen Miller </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Travis Kellar</p><p>tkellar@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div>

State police: Stephen Miller’s BAC was more than three times the legal limit