Police Say DUI Arrestee Nearly Fell Twice, Then They Had Him Perform Standing Sobriety Test

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An 8:51 a.m. call to Darien police about a disabled car creating a traffic hazard on a roadway led to a charge of driving while under the influence for a 52-year-old town resident.

According to police: When they arrived at the scene, after the driver twice lost his balance (and was twice assisted by police officers to keep him from falling down), he was still asked to perform a field sobriety test. The second time he lost his balance he began walking toward oncoming traffic. In the third part of these tests, the driver is told to stand on one leg. At that point, he lost his balance for the third time, and a police officer rushed in to keep him from falling.

Darien police arrest photo of Jose Sucre, 52, of Little Brook Road North on Nov. 8, 2015

Darien police arrest photo of Jose Sucre, 52, of Little Brook Road North on Nov. 8, 2015

Darien police described the incident further with this account (including accusations not proven in court):

When police arrived at Mansfield Avenue near its intersection with Tower Drive on Tuesday, Nov. 24, they found Jose Sucre, a Littlebrook Road North resident, trying to change a tire on his 2001 Toyota Prius.

The car was in the southbound-traffic lane, partly blocking traffic. Sucre seemed to have difficulty using the jack to lift the vehicle. A police officer noticed that Sucre’s speech was slurred, he appeared lethargic and when he stood up, he lost his balance and almost fell.

He told police he was driving to his lawyer’s office. Sucre was arrested Nov. 8 in an alleged domestic violence incident at his home. In that incident, police said that when he was brought to Police Headquarters he hit a police officer and yelled at officers.

A police officer walked Sucre to his vehicle, which the police report said was running. The officer smelled alcohol on Sucre’s breath. Asked again where he was headed, Sucre said he was going home. Additional police officers arrived at the scene.

Even though police knew Sucre had previously lost his balance, police asked him to to perform field sobriety tests and had him get up and walk to a spot behind his car. He lost his balance and started walking toward oncoming traffic. Then an officer assisted him to get behind his car.

Despite seeing evidence that Sucre was falling-down drunk, police still directed him to take the field sobriety tests, one of which involves standing on one leg. Sucre was unable to complete the tests — in fact, he began to fall down and an officer needed to quickly rush to him to keep him from falling.

A police spokesman said he didn’t know why officers asked Sucre to perform such a test when they had already twice helped him from falling to the ground.

Sucre was charged with driving while under the influence. At Police Headquarters, he refused to submit to breath tests.

That evening, he posted $1,000 bond, and he’s scheduled to appear Dec. 4 in state Superior Court in Stamford.

Correction: The police report and a department spokesman did not say or indicate that Sucre “almost” walked into oncoming traffic, as was said in an earlier version of this article. He began walking diagonally toward oncoming traffic, according to police.

One thought on “Police Say DUI Arrestee Nearly Fell Twice, Then They Had Him Perform Standing Sobriety Test

  1. Pingback: Police: Sobriety Tests and Walking Did Not Put Unsteady Arrestee in Danger | Darienite

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