Judge won't lower bond in DUI case

District Judge Ted Lympus refused to lower bond from $100,000 for a young man charged with four felony counts of endangerment.

Timothy Vanswearingen, 22, was allegedly so intoxicated on the morning of Sept. 26 that he drove at speeds of 70 to 80 mph the wrong way on Main Street at about the time that children were arriving at Russell School, Lympus said.

"It is about as egregious a DUI as I have ever seen, absent fatalities that could have happened," Lympus said.

Vanswearingen reportedly nearly hit a police officer head-on and endangered a pregnant woman and her husband, who were on their way to the hospital emergency room, and a woman who said she closed her eyes, waiting for the impact with Vanswearingen's truck.

"This is very, very disconcerting to me," Lympus said.

Vanswearingen's attorney, Sean Hinchey, said the college student has "a dearth of any significant criminal history."

He said that Vanswearingen had been out the night before the incident and had slept before it happened. He hadn't simply been out all night drinking before the incident.

Hinchey asked that bond be reduced again to $25,000, where it was once set.

Lympus said he couldn't do that.

"I couldn't live with myself," he said. "Right now, I can't say society would be safe with Mr. Vanswearingen not in custody.

"I have a responsibility to this community and I have a responsibility to my conscience. I'd be abdicating both of them" if he reduced the bond, Lympus said.

Vanswearingen's family came to support him. He answered questions politely at the hearing and was then returned to jail.

If convicted, he faces 40 years in prison. Trial is set for January.