Drunk Driving in a New Year’s Winter Storm

An officer was patrolling Walton Blvd. on the morning of Jan 1 at approximately 1:00 a.m. when a car was spotted traveling westbound in the left lane going 35 m.p.h. The road conditions were slushy and there was light snowfall. The vehicle was failing to maintain a straight path of travel. At the entrance to Beacon Hill the vehicle began to slow, and when it crossed in front of Red Ox the vehicle veered right into the right turn lane before correcting and continuing forward. At this point the officer turned on their overhead lights and performed a traffic stop.

After the officer performed the stop they walked up to the driver’s side window. The driver rolled the rear window halfway down, stopped, rolled it back up, then rolled down the front window and made contact with the officer. The officer observed the driver had red, watery, glassy eyes and when he spoke they observed a slight slurring of his speech. After some discussion the officer decided to perform a field sobriety test. The driver failed the test on every front, and so the officer placed him under arrest. The officer then contacted a tow service and filled out a vehicle impound form.

The vehicle was searched and the only contraband found was an open bottle of Kirkland Vodka in the rear seat of the vehicle. The driver was transported to Oakland University Police Department for booking. The car was towed and impounded.