A 56-year-old man, later charged with driving while under the influence, hit a tree on Mansfield Avenue sometime before 3 a.m., receiving minor injuries, police said.
Then (apparently after she received his phone call) his wife drove from Weston to Darien find him, with their small children in the car, police said. The man later told police he hid from them when they arrived at the scene, according to police.
In a further complication, the incident occurred in June. Since the man, Donald Robinson Jr., went to a hospital, Darien police had to get a search warrant for his blood sample and then an arrest warrant. He was arrested on Nov. 18 in Westport, initially by police there, then by Darien police.
Darien police gave this account (with accusations not proven in court) about the incident and its unusual turns:
At 2:49 a.m. on June 15, police responded to a report of a car crashed into a tree on Mansfield Avenue just south of Stephen Mather Road. When police arrived, they found the car had been going north, and the airbags had deployed. What they didn’t immediately find was the driver, either in the car or nearby.
While looking in the vehicle, police saw a marijuana pipe on the floor in front of the driver’s seat. In the pipe, which police called a “one hitter,” was a small amount of marijuana.
Two tenths of a mile south of where the car crashed, police came across a minivan in the parking lot of St. Paul’s Church, at 471 Mansfield Ave. Inside was Robinson’s wife and several young children.
Initially, she told police she was lost on her way to New Canaan. Officers later saw the same vehicle further north on Mansfield Avenue, near Talmadge Hill Road. They spoke to Robinson’s wife again, who admitted she was there to pick up her husband after the accident.
When police went back to the crashed car, they found Robinson sitting near the passenger-side door of the vehicle. He told them:
- initially, that he had been sitting in that spot the entire time police were looking for him;
- then, that he was lying in the back seat of the vehicle (although police had checked it when they arrived);
- then, that he was hiding underneath the vehicle (which was impossible, according to a police affidavit for the arrest warrant application).
As an officer spoke with him, the officer smelled a strong odor of an alcoholic drink on Robinson’s breath. The officer also noticed that Robinson was slurring his words and had extremely glassy eyes.
Police didn’t give Robinson field sobriety tests, partly because of the “level of [his[ intoxication” and because he complained that his shoulder hurt. A Darien EMS-Post 53 ambulance took him to Norwalk Hospital where, in the normal course of treatment, a blood sample was taken, just as police expected.
They applied for and received a search warrant for part of the blood sample. A state police laboratory tested it and told Darien police that Robinson’s blood-alcohol level was 0.177 — more than twice the legal driving limit of 0.08.
The arrest warrant charged him with driving while under the influence, evading responsibility for a motor vehicle accident, possession of less than half an ounce of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.
On Nov. 18, Westport police approached Robinson at a Westport train station after a report of a suspicious individual there. Darien police were told that when Robinson was approached by Westport officers, he began to fight with them and received a cut on his head. Westport police issued a misdemeanor summons to Robinson, charging him with interfering with resisting arrest (he has appeared in state Superior Court in Norwalk on that charge), but not with any other charges.
Westport police found that an arrest warrant had been issued for Robinson and told Darien police they could come pick him up. As Darien police were on their way, they were told Westport police were taking Robinson to Norwalk Hospital. At 6 a.m., Darien police took him into custody and at 10 a.m. he posted a $10,000 bond. His case is in state Superior Court in Stamford.