Man charged with 5th DUI in Lewes

Lewes police charged a 35-year-old man with his fifth DUI after finding him asleep in his car March 1 in the Beebe Healthcare parking lot.

Police were called at 1:45 p.m. after several people saw Thomas H. Yetter urinating in the parking lot, said Lewes Police Chief Thomas Spell.

When police arrived, Spell said, they found Yetter passed out in a running vehicle parked near the emergency room entrance. Yetter told police he was resting after dropping off his mother at the hospital, but officers could see he was impaired and also smell alcohol on him, Spell said. Sobriety tests were performed, and police arrested Yetter, taking him to the Lewes Police Station where his blood was drawn after police obtained a search warrant, Spell said.

After a review of prior arrests, Spell said, police learned that Yetter had been previously charged with four prior driving under the influence offenses, the most recent in July 2021.  Yetter was on supervised probation with Office of Probation and Parole after having been released from custody Feb. 17, 2022, Spell said.  Probation and Parole also completed an administrative warrant for violation of probation.

Yetter was charged with a fifth offense DUI, a class E felony, and disorderly conduct. He was transported to Sussex Correctional Institution in default of $19,500 cash only bail.