28 Jun 2009 @ 01:45
It was quitting smoking that caused a Forks Township man to drive a lawn tractor into the patio of his home and threaten to tear the house down with his wife inside.
So said Charles L. Brinker, 49, before he was sentenced to 18 months of probation, 15 hours of community service and fined $500 after he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of reckless endangerment.
"I was on Chantix to quit smoking, and I believe that had a lot to do with it," Brinker told Northampton County Judge F.P. Kimberly McFadden this morning. "I'm not a doctor, but I believe it had a lot to do with it."
On May 2, Brinker made the threats to his wife, Diane Brinker, as he drove a Bobcat loader into the rear patio of their 1005 Forest Hollow Drive home, according to court records. Police said he many times used the tractor to ram a bar that supports that house structurally.
Brinker has since reconciled with his wife, said defense attorney Leonard Mellon, and she attended the sentencing with her husband.
-- Reporting by Riley Yates, The Morning Call
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