Man charged with DUI after pickup flips in Clover, smashes into tree and house

A Lake Wylie man was charged with drunken driving after the truck he was driving ran off Kings Mountain Street and flipped, then hit a tree and smashed into a home, police said.

Jason Patrick Butler, 24, of 1411 Swinging Branch Lane, Lake Wylie, was hospitalized at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte after his Chevrolet pickup truck crashed into a home at 609 Kings Mountain St. Thursday, said Lt. Tanner Davis of the Clover Police Department.

Davis said Butler was driving west toward Blacksburg on a stretch with a 35 mph speed limit when he apparently lost control of the vehicle. The incident was reported around 4:45 p.m. Thursday, he said.

“He crossed over the yellow line, crossed over the oncoming traffic, according to witnesses, went airborne, flipped the vehicle, struck an oak tree and then the house,” Davis said.

Davis said the pickup truck landed on its passenger side with its tires against a one-story brick home.

He said the home’s occupants, whose names were not listed on a police report, were in the rear of the home when the crash happened. “They heard a loud boom, thought someone was coming into their house,” Davis said.

He said one of the residents tried to provide aid to Butler by getting some sheets and placing them around him in the overturned truck.

The truck “was in shambles. The house held up very well. There were a couple of cracks in the brick and damage to a window sash,” Davis said.

Witnesses reported the driver was speeding, Davis said.

Davis said the Clover Fire Department and Piedmont EMS responded. Rescue workers removed the driver from the vehicle and he was taken to Carolinas Medical Center, he said.

Butler smelled strongly of alcohol after he was removed from the vehicle, according to police. He was later charged with DUI.

According to a police report, Butler told police “he knew he was under the influence of alcohol, because he had been drinking, but that he didn’t feel he was above the legal limit.”

Davis said speed and alcohol were major factors in the crash. He said no one else was injured.

This story was originally published November 20, 2015 at 10:43 AM with the headline "Man charged with DUI after pickup flips in Clover, smashes into tree and house."