DE man charged in third DUI after hitting police SUV

Eric T. Biase skipped dumb and dumber and went straight to dumbest after he got arrested for his third drunk-driving offense in the past four years - when he hit a parked state-police vehicle this morning, according to Delaware State Police.

Biase, 44, of Rehoboth Beach, was allegedly driving drunk south on DuPont Boulevard (Route 113) at 12:15 a.m. this morning when he tried to turn west onto Millsboro Highway (Route 24), according to the state police. Instead, he lost control of his 2002 Mitsubishi Lancer and hit a fully marked state police Chevrolet Tahoe that was stopped at the traffic light on Route 24, state police said.

The trooper, noticing an odor of alcohol, started a DUI investigation - and found 17.7 grams of marijuana and a glass pipe in the Lancer's center console, state police said.

Biase was charged with DUI, possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia, state police said. The arrest was his third DUI offense; he has prior convictions from September 1999 and August 2010, state police said. He was sent to the Sussex Correctional Institution on $5,000 bail.

Biase, his 29-year-old female passenger and the 39-year-old trooper were uninjured in the crash.