Woman Stopped at L. Saucon Checkpoint Had .19 BAC, Police Say

An Allentown woman who was stopped at a Lower Saucon Township Police Department checkpoint on Mountain Drive Aug. 10 allegedly had a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .19 percent–more than twice the legal limit of .08 percent–and according to court records her arrest on a DUI charge was not her first.

According to a post published Monday on the department’s Crimewatch website, Courtney Lee Doheny, aka Courtney Doheny-Donohue, aka Courtney Donohue, 42, failed field coordination exercises at the checkpoint and was then taken to the Northampton County DUI Center for processing.

Doheny is charged with one count of DUI, according to police.

According to court records, in May 2006 she was charged with first offense DUI, second offense DUI-High Rate of Alcohol (BAC .10 – <.16) and careless driving in a Hellertown borough case.

That case was transferred to the Northampton County Court of Common Pleas, where in November 2006 Doheny (lwho is isted in court records pertaining to that case as Courtney Donohue) pleaded guilty to the DUI-High Rate of Alcohol charge and was sentenced to five days to six months in jail, with credit received for any time already served and eligibility for immediate work release, according to court records.

She was also fined $750 and had her license suspended as part of the sentencing agreement in the case which was presided over by Judge Anthony S. Beltrami, according to the court records.

Pennsylvania has what is called a 10-year “lookback period” for DUI offenses, which means that if a prior DUI conviction occurred more than 10 years before a new DUI charge is filed, the new charge is treated as a first offense by the court. This can affect eligibility for the state’s ARD (Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition) program as well as sentencing if the individual is found or pleads guilty.

Online county court records have not yet been updated to indicate when a preliminary hearing for Doheny will be held.