Man, 20, Arrested on DUI Charge, then Domestic Violence Charge the Next Day

A 20-year-old McCrae Road man was charged with driving while under the influence after a 7 p.m. traffic accident on Aug. 5, then arrested on domestic violence charges at about 9:30 p.m. the next evening, police said.

Darien police gave these accounts of each incident (including accusations not proven in court):

Police were called to the intersection of McCrae Road and Old Kings Highway South on a report of a traffic accident. The man was driving a 2004 Infinity G35, which received heavy front-end damage and the air bags deployed when the accident occurred with a UPS truck.

The McCrae Road man said he had no idea what had happened. He was taking a right turn off of McCrae Road when the vehicles collided. Neither driver was injured or thought they needed medical attention.

A police officer smelled alcohol on the young man’s breath and noticed that he had trouble maintaining his balance and was holding onto the front passenger door when he got out of the car. His eyes were bloodshot, red and glassy. He said he drank 1 beer and another half of a container of beer before the accident.

Directed to perform field sobriety tests, the man didn’t pass them and was charged with driving while under the influence of alcohol and making an improper turn. His first breath test at Darien Police Headquarters showed a 7:48 p.m. blood-alcohol level of 0.0999. The second test, at 8:07 p.m., showed 0.930. The legal blood-alcohol limit for a person under age 21 who is driving in Connecticut is 0.02.

He was released on a $250 bond.

The second incident occurred the next evening, when police were called to the man’s home at about 9:20 p.m. on the report of a possible physical altercation.

The young man had been arguing with his parents when another family member joined in. The young man started chasing that family member, yelling, “I’m going to kill you” several times. The victim then called police.

The young man told police he didn’t mean the threat, and that he was upset that the victim was inserting herself into an argument that didn’t directly concern the victim. No violence took place.

The man was charged with disorderly conduct and second-degree threatening. Police initially set his bond at $1,000, which a state bail commissioner later lowered to $500. At 3:30 p.m. the next day, a family member paid the bond.