Groom arrested at wedding pleads to separate traffic charges

January 12, 2001

Groom arrested at wedding pleads to separate traffic charges

By MARLO BARNHART / Staff Writer

The bridegroom who was whisked away from his wedding last October on charges stemming from a July car chase will be separated from his new wife while he serves three days in jail for an earlier traffic offense.

Timothy Lee Faith, 29, of Hancock, pleaded guilty Thursday in Washington County Circuit Court to driving on a revoked license in a November 1999 traffic stop on U.S. 522 when Maryland State Police nabbed him for speeding.

"He tells me he wasn't aware he was revoked," said attorney Edward Button who represented Faith on that charge Thursday.

Faith's extensive past record included a 1992 alcohol-related conviction, a 1993 driving while revoked, a 1995 driving while intoxicated and numerous failures to appear for prior court hearings, according to court records.

Charges arising from the July 1 warrant for a 90 mph car chase through three states weren't addressed in court Thursday.

Those traffic charges include fleeing and eluding, speeding, another driving on a suspended license and reckless driving.

It was for those charges that authorities handcuffed Faith as he was about to get married on Oct. 21. The ceremony was held later that day.

"I know I don't have a good record," Faith told Judge John H. McDowell Thursday. "Now with a wife and a baby on the way, it's time to grow up."

Unable to legally drive, Faith said his wife has been driving him to Breezewood, Pa., each Monday to catch a ride to New Jersey with his foreman. There he works four 10-hour days erecting water towers, returning to Hancock late Thursday.

McDowell wondered aloud why Faith would risk so much to drive when he knew he was revoked. "Why place yourself in such jeopardy?" the judge said.

Faith said he didn't know but then he admitted that he had gotten away with it before so he did it again.

McDowell sentenced Faith to six months in the Washington County Detention Center, suspending all but three days. Probation was set at one year and he was fined $100.

On his wedding day, Faith was taken to the police station in his tuxedo.

The couple salvaged their day by holding the wedding and reception in the evening, after members of the wedding party paid $2,500 to bail out the bridegroom.

At the time, Faith called his arrest "a waste of taxpayers' money."

According to charging documents filed in Washington County District Court, Maryland State Police on July 1 clocked a Ford Escort at 86 mph in a 65 mph zone on Interstate 68.

Police chased the car through Hancock into West Virginia and Pennsylvania before losing it on a back road, charging documents said.

Trooper 1st Class J.D. Crawford alleged in charging documents that the driver of the Escort was identified as Faith even though the car was registered to Kathy McFadden, now Faith's wife.

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