HARRISBURG — Former Northumberland County Commissioner Allen Cwalina has quit his job as deputy secretary for administration in the state Department of Labor and Industry on the heels of his conviction in early October on charges of crashing a state car while under the influence of alcohol 11 months ago.
Gov. Ed Rendell in 2007 appointed Cwalina, 50, of New Cumberland, to the position that paid $122,000 a year.
Cwalina, who had been suspended without pay following the conviction, did not return a telephone call for comment Wednesday evening.
He was arrested by Lower Allen Township police at his home after crashing a state-owned car into a parked car at 3 a.m. Nov. 26 near his home in a Beacon Hills development.
His blood-alcohol concentration was twice the legal limit.
Conviction of drunken driving with general impairment and causing a crash while intoxicated came on Oct. 2 by Cumberland County Judge J. Wesley Oler Jr.
In January, Cwalina was still working, but had lost the use of a state-owned vehicle, pending the outcome of the case.
Cwalina testified during the trial that he had not had anything to drink prior to the accident, but had drunk three or four beers and two glasses of whiskey afterward, before police arrived.
He told police the steering of his car had jerked the wheel, causing the accident, and he had left his business card with the vehicle he struck. He went home and had several drinks before police arrived.
During the trial, the Department of Labor and Industry’s vehicle maintenance director testified that Cwalina had complained about problems with his vehicle’s steering several months before the accident.
Cwalina was charged with drunken driving twice in 10 years.
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