Darien police this weekend arrested a 59-year-old woman on a warrant after an August car accident that sent both drivers to the hospital.
Police described the events with this account (including accusations not proven in court):
At about 9:30 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 15, the woman was driving a 2005 Mercury Sable east on Middlesex Road near its intersection with Laurel Lane when she went into the opposite traffic lane just as a 20-year-old Darien man, driving west, was headed toward her.
The Darien man, in a 2011 Chevrolet Malibu, swerved into the opposite lane to avoid the oncoming car, but his vehicle was hit. It was damaged heavily on its right (passenger) side and in the rear. Rivera’s Sable was heavily damaged in the front.
When police arrived at the scene, the woman, a Greenwich resident, was still seated in her car and appeared to be looking for something. An officer asked her if she was injured, and she said she wasn’t sure, but she wasn’t hurt.
When speaking to her, officers smelled alcohol and saw that her eyes were bloodshot and glassy. Her speech was slurred, as well. Asked how much she’d been drinking, she said she didn’t know, but maybe one beer.
She was asked to step out of the car. In doing so, she stumbled, and an officer had to help her to keep her from falling. She seemed unsteady on her feet and leaned against the car, then was helped back in the driver’s seat.
She said she didn’t have any medical conditions but did say she was using medication. Officers were unsure if she was intoxicated or had sustained some kind of injury.
When an ambulance from Darien EMS-Post 53 arrived, they decided it would be best if both drivers were taken to a hospital.
Police applied for a search warrant to get the woman’s blood-alcohol content. They received the warrant on Sept. 1 and the next day gave it to the hospital. A state toxicology report later showed the woman’s blood-alcohol content was over the 0.08 legal limit (Darien police have decided, as a matter of policy, not to make public the exact amount).
Police applied for an arrest warrant, which was approved by Sept. 30. On Oct. 1, the woman was told police had the warrant, and she turned herself in to police later that day.
She was arrested on charges of driving while under the influence of alcohol and failing to drive in the correct lane, then released on a $250 cash bond. She is scheduled to appear Oct. 11 in state Superior Court in Stamford.