Family Loyalty Gets Dad in Trouble With Police

A Lower Macungie Township father and son have found themselves in trouble over a recent DUI-related incident, according to police.

State police at Fogelsville said they stopped the vehicle driven by John Thomas Hartnett, 22, of 1770 Willow Spur at 2:18 a.m. Feb. 13 at Broad Street and Quincy Road in Lower Macungie. They said they began performing field sobriety tests because of an odor of alcohol eminating from the vehicle and Hartnett's admission of drinking a lot of alcohol.

However, Hartnett ran away while performing one of the tests, police said.

Hartnett was picked up soon after by his father, Daniel W. Hartnett, 53, of the same address, police said. The younger Hartnett was dropped off at his girlfriend's residence on Apple Road in Upper Macungie, where police found him in an upstairs bedroom about two hours later.

Police said they arrested both Daniel and John Hartnett and transported them to Lehigh County Prison.

John Hartnett received 14 charges including driving under the influence, being a habitual offender, resisting arrest, possession of marijuana and paraphernalia, and driving an unregistered vehicle, police said.  He was unable to post bail and remains in prison. Court records show that he waived all charges to Lehigh County Court on Feb. 21.

Daniel Hartnett was charged with obstruction of law enforcement and hindering apprehension, police said. He was released on $5,000 bail. Information on his preliminary hearing was not yet available.