A 52-year-old Darien man was found intoxicated, with more than double the legal amount of alcohol in his blood, asleep behind the wheel of a parked vehicle, its engine revved and steam coming from under the hood, just past midnight on Saturday, Sept. 22, police said.
Darien police described what happened with this account, including accusations not proven in court:
The man, who lives in the neighborhood, was in a vehicle parked near the intersection of West Avenue and Charles Street.
Four police officers, dispatched after a call at 12:12 a.m., found the man asleep behind the wheel, his foot on the accelerator, the engine revving, steam coming up from under the hood and radiator coolant leaking onto the ground.
They woke the man and asked him to step out of the vehicle.
He swayed as he stood next to the vehicle and held onto it to steady himself. His speech was slurred and he had trouble pronouncing words. Police smelled an alcoholic beverage on him.
The man was given standard field sobriety tests, which he didn’t pass. Police charged him with driving while under the influence and took him to Police Headquarters.
At 1:09 a.m., he took a breath test that showed his blood-alcohol content at 0.1818, more than twice the legal limit of 0.08. At 1:32 a.m., a second test showed his blood-alcohol content at 0.1629, still more than double the legal limit.
He was released at 8:44 a.m. after posting a $50 cash bond and told to appear Oct. 2 in state Superior Court in Stamford.
Darienite.com is not using the man’s name. This article explains our guidelines on not using names of some people who are arrested.