Paper reports drunken-driving charge against surgeon dropped

The Roanoke Times is reporting a surgeon who earlier this year ran into a pedestrian in front of the Christiansburg Walmart no longer faces a drunken-driving charge — because a breath test showed he was below the legal threshold for intoxication.

The paper said a defense attorney stated the pedestrian who was struck had a much higher blood-alcohol level, over four times that of the doctor.

The paper said a short hearing in Montgomery County General District Court Wednesday ended the case against Dr. Stuart Hal Goldstein, 56, of Pulaski County. Judge Gino Williams agreed to the prosecution’s request to drop the sole charge filed against Goldstein, and family members hugged the doctor as he left the courtroom.

The paper reported that outside the courthouse, defense attorney Jimmy Turk of Radford said it was unfortunate that Goldstein was charged in the first place, saying the allegation cost the surgeon his job of 16 years at LewisGale Pulaski Hospital. Turk said he hoped that LewisGale now will reconsider Goldstein’s employment.

Goldstein was arrested Jan. 4 after his 2013 Audi hit Clarence Michael Hutchinson, 52, at about 8 p.m. while Hutchinson was crossing Christiansburg’s North Franklin Street, according to the Roanoke Times article.