Saturday, July 19, 2008

One less drunk.

One less drunk on the road earlier this morning. Just before 1AM this morning I saw 4 vehicles leaving a parking lot near headquarters driving erratically. I immediately pulled off the road into a service station parking lot and blacked-out to wait and see their direction of travel. They proceeded past me heading east on Rt.7/E. Market St. past my location. As they passed I observed each of the vehicles. The first vehicle that caught my attention was the 4th which was rapidly speeding up and slowing down behind the other 3. I pulled out behind them and followed them to observe their driving behaviors. Then my attention was drawn to the 2nd vehicle which was within 1 car length of the 1st requiring it to repeatedly hits its brakes to keep from hitting the 1st. Vehicles 2, 3, and 4 were following 1 as they mimicked its lane changes and speed. As we approached the town limits I made my decision to initiate a traffic stop on the 2nd vehicle. As I pulled-in behind it they all moved into the center turn lane to head north of Rivercreek Pkwy. Due to construction I informed dispatch of the traffic stop and vehicle identity prior to lighting it up. Once we began to exit construction I lit up the lights and pulled him over. Upon interviewing the driver and getting his OL I ran his information through dispatch and wrote a warning for his driving behavior to document the reasonable suspicion for making the traffic stop. I then had him step out of the vehicle to perform SFST's due to having bloodshot eyes and having the smell of an alcoholic beverage on his breath and person. He failed 4 of the 5 tests given, and I was estimating his BAC to be 0.10 where the legal limit is 0.08. He then refused the PBT but agreed to take the Intoxilizer5000 at headquarters. As I took him out of the vehicle at headquarters I saw a clear Ziploc bag fall from behind him and heard him say, "Oh, shit! Fuck!" I had missed a bag of marijuana that he had shoved down the rear of his pants. Lucky for him he took it out as if it would have been found at the ADC when committed he would've been charged with a felony rather than a misdemeanor possession. He was then found to have a residual BAC level of 0.08 using the Intoxilizer 5000 by a certified officer. It's funny how they all say that they only had 2 or 3 beers over 4 hours prior to being stopped! Upon weighing the bag it was 13g (1/2oz) which is enough to charge PWID (possession with intent to deliver). However, we did not find other baggies or devices consistant with PWID so I charged simple possession. I then took him to the ADC to see the magistrate and be committed until he was sober for release. He also was served with a 7-day administrative license suspension with a court date in late August.

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