Darien police were able to keep a man safe just before they arrested him Nov. 24 on a DUI charge, despite the man repeatedly losing his balance while he was in their care, a spokesman for the Police Department said.
“To my knowledge the Department has no reason whatsoever to believe anything other than that the involved officers acted professionally while keeping in mind the safety of everyone involved,” said Sgt. Jeremiah Marron, a Police Department spokesman.
Marron said that police are trained to keep intoxicated people from falling when they’re unsteady on their feet during DUI field sobriety tests. The spokesman also said that at another point, when the man started walking diagonally toward traffic, there was no indication in the report that he came close to walking into an oncoming vehicle.
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A transcript, slightly shortened, of emailed questions and answers about the incident is at the bottom of this article.
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At a recent press briefing, police said two things that later caused Darienite.com to ask for more information about how safe police kept Jose Sucre, a 52-year-old Darien man who was arrested.
According to the police account (and all descriptions of what happened at the scene are part of the police account, a series of accusations not proven in court), Sucre was so unsteady on his feet almost fell over when he got up from trying to jack up his car (to change a flat tire).
A police officer helped Sucre to sit in his car. Despite Sucre’s unsteadiness, police had him walk to the back of his car, at which point he almost fell again, and as part of field sobriety tests they had him stand on one foot, at which point he almost fell again. In each case, a police officer helped him not to fall. In the last instance, police said an officer rushed in to keep him from falling.
Darienite.com asked Marron why police had Sucre walk and take a test when Sucre was described as being so unsteady on his feet that he repeatedly almost fell.
“Part of administering these tests is recognizing when and if a subject is placed in danger by continuing the test,” Marron responded. “If that was the circumstance in this case, the tests would have been discontinued, otherwise the test continues until there are enough ‘cues’ to be classified as a failure.
“If every officer was trained to discontinue a field sobriety test if someone was ‘unsteady’ on their feet, not only could the tests almost never be fully administered, but no one would end up being convicted of DWI. That would be the real ‘danger’ to the public.”
No description police have given of the incident indicates how close police officers were to Sucre.
We also asked Marron about how dangerous it was for Sucre when, according to the police description of the incident, he walked diagonally toward traffic as he was walking behind his car. We also asked whether Darienite.com’s description of that part of the report was accurate in saying Sucre “lost his balance and almost walked into oncoming traffic.” Marron responded (at another point) that in the police report “Nowhere does it say that Sucre was almost struck by a vehicle or did he place any other motorist in danger.”
The “almost” in the Darienite.com article appears not to be supported by the police report, so we’ve removed that from the article, rewritten two sentences and posted a correction.
Marron also said, in a separate email: “The report indicates that Sucre was asked to exit his vehicle from a seated position (driver’s seat as he had been instructed to provide vehicle paperwork) and to stand to the rear of his vehicle. When he exited the car, ‘he lost his balance and began to walk diagonally toward oncoming traffic.’ He then needed to be assisted by officers ‘to the rear of the vehicle, safely out of the way of oncoming traffic.’”
Here are the emailed questions asked by Darienite.com and answers provided by Marron:
DARIENITE: Since police have a man in custody who, according to the police account, is in danger of falling down, and later he’s in danger of walking into traffic, then:
MARRON: He was never “in custody” until he was placed under arrest.
DARIENITE: Why did police have him get up and start walking to an area in back of his car? Wasn’t he in danger of falling and hitting his head on the pavement?
MARRON: Having someone move to the rear of their vehicle for field sobriety testing is typical procedure and protocol as usually that is a safer location and out of harm’s way. At the point which officers asked Sucre to walk to the back of his car, he had already “lost his balance and almost [fallen] down” which was most likely the reason officers asked him to submit to the field sobriety tests in the first place. Losing his balance is not necessarily indicative of being intoxicated. Someone could claim they have an injury, medical problem, are overweight, etc. as a defense to losing their balance. The Field Sobriety Tests are lawfully accepted as a standardized tool where if a subject performs poorly, it gives the officer probable cause to arrest if they were operating a motor vehicle.
DARIENITE: He then walks diagonally toward traffic, according to the police account. Didn’t that put him (and people in oncoming vehicles) in further danger? Why didn’t police then just have him sit down again, even if it meant not taking the field sobriety test?
MARRON: Without being there myself, I would interpret this as instead of walking from his driver’s seat area to the rear of his car, he walked in the direction of the traveled portion of the roadway. Nowhere does it say that Sucre was almost struck by a vehicle or did he place any other motorist in danger. This also could be indicative of having poor balance due to intoxication yet it was not part of a standardized sobriety test. Again it was just more of the officer’s observation which is critical to document for anyone who may be reading this report during a criminal proceeding. Don’t forget, if someone refuses a breath or urine test, the only evidence an officer may have is his observations and the performance on the field sobriety tests.
DARIENITE: The third field sobriety test involves standing on one leg, correct? Why did police have him do this when he was so unsteady on his feet? Wasn’t he being put in further danger?
MARRON: Correct. Again, it is the officer’s obligation to establish probable cause to arrest and in doing so, the three standardized field sobriety tests are the lawfully accepted tool that we use to do so. Not only the Darien Police Department, but all law enforcement agencies. We are trained and certified in the administration of these tests. Part of administering these tests is recognizing when and if a subject is placed in danger by continuing the test. If that was the circumstance in this case, the tests would have been discontinued, otherwise the test continues until there are enough “cues” to be classified as a failure. If every officer was trained to discontinue a field sobriety test if someone was “unsteady” on their feet, not only could the tests almost never be fully administered, but no one would end up being convicted of DWI. That would be the real “danger” to the public.
DARIENITE: Were any of the officers at the scene of the DUI arrest also at the scene when he was arrested on Nov. 8 in connection with an alleged domestic violence incident at his home? Were any of the officers at the DUI arrest scene there when police say he yelled and hit a police officer while his arrest was being processed? If any were at the earlier scenes, is the department confident that they acted professionally at the DUI scene? […]
MARRON: I do not know if any of the officers present on Sucre’s 11/24 DWI arrest were present during his previous arrests. This report indicates that the arresting officer did recognize Sucre but doesn’t specify why or how. Sucre, I would say is familiar to most of the Town of Darien since his mugshot was displayed all over by the media for previous arrests. To my knowledge the Department has no reason whatsoever to believe anything other than that the involved officers acted professionally while keeping in mind the safety of everyone involved. As always, arrests are made based on probable cause.
DARIENITE: Jose Sucre was in the custody of police the second and third times he almost fell. Assuming police have a duty to keep people in their custody from coming to harm, does the department have any concerns about whether police at the scene did a poor job of that?
MARRON: Again, he was not in custody until he was physically placed under arrest. If you are referring to the fact that we have the responsibility to make sure someone under our care does not get injured, then yes, and it sounds like the officers did an excellent job of that. The report indicated that the officers prevented him from losing his balance and falling during testing and in my opinion that clearly demonstrated that they were acting diligently in making sure he wasn’t injured while in their care.
[In a later email, Marron said:]
MARRON: “The report indicates that Sucre was asked to exit his vehicle from a seated position (driver’s seat as he had been instructed to provide vehicle paperwork) and to stand to the rear of his vehicle. When he exited the car, ‘he lost his balance and began to walk diagonally toward oncoming traffic.’ He then needed to be assisted by officers ‘to the rear of the vehicle, safely out of the way of oncoming traffic.’”
