HAZLETON, Pa. -- A preliminary hearing will be held later this month in Luzerne County, Pa. for the Washington Township police officer accused of wreaking havoc and crashing into several cars while under the influence this past June.

Authorities say Washington Township police officer William McCarthy III was involved in a DWI crash in Hazleton, Pa. on Thursday. Pictured, McCarthy's Nissan Armada SUV.

William McCarthy, 45, of Great Meadows, allegedly drove the wrong-way on a one-way street in Tamaqua, Pa. on June 16 and left the scene after side-swiping a vehicle with his Nissan Armada SUV, police have said. Hours later, he crashed into more cars in Hazleton, Pa., plowed into a police roadblock and resisted arrest, police have said.

The preliminary hearing will be held Aug. 31 before a magisterial court judge in Hazleton, court officials confirmed.

Hazleton police have charged McCarthy with DUI, resisting arrest, reckless driving, accidents involving damage to attended vehicles and duty to give information and render aid. He's also facing charges out of Tamaqua for allegedly driving in the wrong direction on a one-way roadway, accidents involving damage to an unattended vehicle or property and duty to give information and render aid.

Shortly before 8 p.m. on June 16, McCarthy was arrested at a roadblock in Hazleton after hitting several vehicles in that town -- two of which were occupied. His vehicle had heavy front-end damage when it was stopped and McCarthy had been driving the vehicle even though the airbag had deployed.

Authorities haven't provided any additional information on the events leading up to the crash in Hazleton, but they have said that McCarthy was allegedly involved in a domestic violence incident in New Jersey prior to the Pennsylvania crashes.

The crashes in Hazleton and Tamaqua occurred nearly a year to the day after McCarthy was arrested on a DWI charge in Blairstown. During that incident on June 20, 2015, he was found parked on the shoulder of Route 94 in a daze and with an open bottle of tequila between his legs, according to arrest reports obtained by NJ Advance Media.

McCarthy, who'd been kicked out of the house a day before the Blairstown DWI last year, told the officer who stopped to check on his condition that he saw dead people and asked if the officer also saw dead people. McCarthy refused to submit to field sobriety tests and to provide breath samples.

According to the arrest report, his wife told Blairstown police there were family issues at home, that he'd been drinking heavily since 2002 and that they tried to get him help before. McCarthy denied having a drinking problem, according to the arrest report.

McCarthy's license was suspended in Aug. 2015 for 90 days for a first-time DWI violation in connection with the Blairstown incident. At the time of his arrest on June 16, his driver's license was valid.

McCarthy has been suspended without pay from the Washington Township Police Department pending the outcome of the investigation into the most recent incidents, Washington Township Police Chief Jeffrey S. Almer has said.

Justin Zaremba may be reached at jzaremba@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JustinZarembaNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.