PORT ANGELES — A 26-year-old Sequim man is facing what could be his fifth charge of driving under the influence, only a month after being arrested for investigation of driving drunk in Port Angeles.
Jeremiah Allen Joyce appeared in Clallam County Superior Court on Monday and was ordered held in the Clallam County jail on $15,000 bail. If he is released he will be required to wear a bracelet that monitors his alcohol consumption.
He remained in the jail Monday afternoon, held for investigation of felony DUI and second-degree driving with a suspended license, the same charges he was booked under in August.
“With his history continuing like this and considering that just a month ago he was arrested for the same thing, Mr. Joyce presents a significant and dangerous risk to the community,” said Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Jesse Espinoza. Joyce is scheduled to appear in court again at 1 p.m. Wednesday.
He has been convicted of driving under the influence three times within the past 10 years — in 2011, 2013 and 2017 — and has been arrested twice since August for suspicion of driving under the influence. Joyce had been released from conditions of release as prosecutors await blood results from his arrest in August. Espinoza said Monday prosecutors are waiting for the test results before charging.
“There’s going to be another charge coming down the pipeline,” he said.
Espinoza asked that Joyce be held on $25,000 bail, but Joyce’s attorney Harry Gasnick argued that like the previous case, prosecutors would likely have to wait for blood test results.
“It takes awhile to get blood test results,” Gasnick said. “They want this gentleman to be held on substantial bail on a case where they will be waiting for blood test results.”
A state trooper arrested Joyce early Saturday morning after contacting him for allegedly driving 64 mph on the 45 mph section of U.S. Highway 101 near Deer Park Road, court papers said.
With “severely slurred” speech, Joyce told Trooper Mark Hodgson “that wasn’t me though,” according to the report. Passengers said Joyce was driving them from a bar in downtown Port Angeles to Sequim, the report said.
Joyce told Hodgson that he wasn’t the one driving, although he was in the driver’s seat when he was pulled over, Hodgson wrote.
Joyce refused to go into the backseat of the patrol car until Hodgson pushed him in. When the trooper attempted a Breathalyzer test, Joyce would not give consent. That led to a warrant for his blood. It took help from another trooper and two security guards at Olympic Medical Center to hold him down while his blood was drawn.
Joyce also was arrested the morning of Aug. 11 after Officer Tyler Mueller saw a truck pulling onto Front Street in downtown Port Angeles, court papers said.
The truck was revving its engine as it inched forward toward the street, Mueller wrote in his report.
When Mueller approached the driver’s side window, he said he could smell alcohol and saw what appeared to be clear liquor in a cup holder.
“Joyce stated he wasn’t driving and the truck did not belong to him” Mueller wrote. Joyce told Mueller he had been using the truck to listen to music.
Joyce repeatedly told Mueller that he wasn’t driving the truck. His passenger told police Joyce was going to give her a ride home and that Joyce “freaked out” when he saw Mueller approaching.
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Reporter Jesse Major can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56250, or at jmajor@peninsuladailynews.com.
