May 4, 2015 3 min read

A longtime employee of the Washington County Sheriff’s Department who was captain of the deputies until his March arrest for drunken driving and related charges waived his right to a preliminary hearing Monday before a district judge.

Anthony Interval, 53, of Huffman Avenue, Washington, no longer faces a first-degree misdemeanor charge of involvement in a hit-and-run accident involving death or personal injury.

Interval’s attorney, Noah Geary, said the arresting officer from the city police department agreed to withdraw the charge because it did not meet the requirement of serious bodily injury or death. Interval signed a waiver before District Judge Robert Redlinger, who told Interval of his formal arraignment July 21 on the remaining charges of DUI, failing to stop and give information or render aid and involvement in an accident that damaged an attended vehicle.

An assistant district attorney was not present when the case was called before the district judge, but Geary said he would enter into discussions about the case with prosecutors.

Sheriff Samuel Romano placed Interval on unpaid administrative leave after the March 30 crash at Maiden and South Main streets. Shortly after midnight, police allege, Interval’s vehicle crashed into the back of a vehicle driven by John Patterson, 57, of North Franklin Township, and Interval left the scene. Patterson and a witness were able to obtain the license plate number, and city police said they went to Interval’s home and found a wrecked car and Interval staggering on a sidewalk next to his home. He was bleeding from a mouth injury.

Interval has voluntarily enrolled in an intensive anti-alcohol-abuse outpatient program, “and he’s doing well in that,” Geary said, showing a photograph of the spiderweb-like splintered glass of Interval’s windshield where the defendant’s head struck it.

“Again, not an excuse, but maybe the blow to the head played some role in his decisions that night,” Interval’s attorney said after the brief court proceeding.

Interval allegedly asked Patterson not to call police and reportedly asked officers who responded to his home not to do anything about the matter because his name would end up on the front page of the newspaper.

Interval, who has no prior criminal record, remains free on his own recognizance. Geary said he believes Interval would be eligible for the Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition program for DUI first offenders.

“What happened is extremely regrettable, and no one knows that more than Tony Interval,” Geary said. “He wants to emphasize that what occurred that night is no reflection on the Washington County sheriff’s office and no reflection on Sheriff Romano.”

Nonetheless, Interval’s arrest for DUI was the third of this type among sheriff’s office personnel in the past seven years.

A trial date has not yet been set for Deputy Paul Rock, 35, of Stockdale, who was arrested Nov. 29 by state police in Cambria County on charges of DUI, failure to stop at a red light, disregarding traffic signals, careless driving and other summary traffic offenses. Rock continues to work as a sheriff’s deputy.

Romano, himself, was charged with DUI in June 2008 in Elkins, W.Va., and was briefly incarcerated. He pleaded guilty, paying a $100 fine and court costs.