Driver in Rehoboth crash to serve two-plus years in jail

A Middletown man will serve two-and-a-half years in prison and a year of probation for driving his truck into multiple vehicles in Rehoboth Beach in July.

Martin Tuohy, 45, will also lose his driver’s license and pay a $1,000 fine after previously pleading no contest to charges of third-offense DUI, vehicular assault and reckless endangerment.

Tuohy was facing up to 10 years in prison with a mandatory minimum sentence of one year in jail. However, because the offenses are alcohol-related, Tuohy had the option to take a 90-day minimum sentence followed by time spent in Reflections, a prison-based alcohol treatment program. After pleading guilty Dec. 7, Tuohy chose to take the 90-day minimum and rehab, beginning to serve time right away.

On July 7, Tuohy came to Rehoboth with a friend and her children, driving a blue Dodge Ram pickup truck. Tuohy went into a Rehoboth Avenue bar for drinks, parking in a 30-minute parking space. Tuohy left the bar to move his car and as he backed out, he collided with another vehicle going westbound on Rehoboth Avenue.

Rehoboth police said Tuohy tried to leave the scene of the crash, but he lost control of his truck and collided with four cars parked along the median. Tuohy continued to drive his damaged truck across westbound Rehoboth Avenue, striking the curb, a bike rack and two vehicles at the intersection of Rehoboth Avenue and Second Street. Tuohy’s truck then struck a pole and came to rest on the sidewalk in front of the Sandcastle Hotel on Rehoboth Avenue.

The crash injured five people, including Tuohy and a 16-year-old. All those injured were treated at Beebe Healthcare for nonlife-threatening injuries.