PALMYRA — A Republican primary candidate for Palmyra mayor was arrested Thursday for allegedly crashing a truck into a house while driving under the influence, according to the Western Lebanon Regional Police Department.

At 8:12 p.m., officers were dispatched to the 400 block of North Railroad Street and saw 10 people standing outside the crash site. According to court documents, Kevin Yiengst’s vehicle, a white GMC Sierra pickup truck, had heavy front end damage after crashing into a house at the North Railroad/Willow Street intersection.

Yiengst told police that he was not hurt and didn’t need an ambulance. Police said his breath reeked of alcohol. 

"When EMS asked Yiengst what happened he pointed to his vehicle, then said 'a cat ran in front of me, I turned and...’ and then put his hands up in the air," police said in court documents.

Inside the ambulance, Yiengst was asked how much he had to drink. According to court documents, his replied: "several." Then he added "I was drinking vodka and whatever the hell I was ... yes."

He allegedly told police he had his last drink "20 minutes ago."

After giving him a field sobriety test, police handcuffed Yiengst and placed him under arrest for suspicion of drunken driving.

"Yiengst mentioned several times throughout the investigation process that he was 'going to be the Mayor of Palmyra,’" police said in court documents.

Officers said they escorted Yiengst to the ambulance, where they read him a blood test warning form.

"Yiengst stated 'what the (expletive) are we doing all this (expletive) for? I told you the truth, you can read all the (expletive) all you want,’" police wrote in court documents.

Although Yiengst originally agreed to do the blood draw, he refused once the ambulance took him to the Penn State Health Hershey Medical Center, charges say.

Yeignst is one of the mayoral candidates on the ballot for the Palmyra Borough Council in the Republican primary on May 20.

Yiengst was charged with drunken and careless driving.