OIL SPRINGS – Just over 10 years since a fatal wreck caused by a DUI driver, who was later convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 10 years, the man was arrested, yet, again, after being found reportedly passed out behind the wheel.
At approximately 7 p.m. on Sunday, July 25, Johnson County Sheriff Doug Saylor received a call regarding a male subject passed out in a vehicle on Pigeon Creek Road, in Oil Springs.
The Oil Springs Volunteer Fire Department arrived on scene and could not wake the driver, so crews had to break a window in order to gain entry into the vehicle. Fire department officials turned off the vehicle and administered sternum rubs to wake the driver.
When JCSO Deputy Scott arrived, Trenton Dane Tackett, 33, of Painters Lick Road, in Salyersville, was still sitting in the driver’s seat, and Tackett stumbled in the gravels while being helped to the back of the ambulance.
According to the arrest citation, Tackett told police he had been drinking vodka all day and had taken suboxone, which he was prescribed. The officer noted Tackett had a prescription of 18 tablets filled three days prior, with only 2 ½ remaining in the bottle, though he was prescribed two tablets per day.
Police noted in the arrest citation that Tackett’s speech was slurred, and he failed a field sobriety test.
Tackett was arrested and taken to the Big Sandy Regional Detention Center, where he was later released, pending future court dates, and charged with driving under the influence, first offense, and open alcohol container in the vehicle.
While the Independent does not normally cover DUIs, especially in other counties, this case is a bit different, given that Tackett was sentenced in 2012 to 10 years in prison after taking a plea deal for second-degree manslaughter and two counts of second-degree assault, stemming from a wreck caused by Tackett, who was driving under the influence, hitting another vehicle head-on on US 460.
According to archived news reports, on May 26, 2011, a 2010 Subaru Outback, operated by Tackett, was traveling west on US 460 when his vehicle crossed the centerline and struck a 2003 Chevrolet pickup, driven by 38-year-old Anita Back, of Seitz, Kentucky. Back was pronounced dead at the scene and a child and adult female also sustained injuries in the wreck.
A pretrial conference in the new Johnson County traffic case is scheduled for December 15, 2021.
Editor’s Note: The indictment or charge of a person by a grand jury or otherwise is an accusation only and that person is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
