A 26-year-old man driving downtown around 1 a.m. Saturday was stopped by police for a traffic violation, then they found he was intoxicated and had cocaine, police said.
Darien police gave this account of what happened, including accusations not proven in court:
At about 1:06 a.m., Nicolas Panagiotopoulos of Glenbrook Road in Stamford was driving west (toward Stamford) on the Post Road. He didn’t stop for the traffic light, then flashing red, at the intersection of the road with the exit ramp for Interstate 95 North (near the car dealership).
A police officer saw the gray 2016 Volkswagen Jetta go through the traffic light at what the officer thought was a high rate of speed and stopped the car.
When Panagiotopoulos told the officer that he was coming from a Norwalk restaurant, the officer could see that the driver’s eyes were glassy and bloodshot, and the officer could smell the strong odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from inside the car. When asked, the driver said he had been drinking.
There was a cup in the center console with a brown liquid that the driver said was a drink with alcohol in it. Panagiotopoulos also admitted that he had some narcotics in the vehicle. Police found some cocaine on the floor in front of the front passenger seat. When police later weighed it they found there was 0.3 grams of it.
Panagiotopoulos couldn’t adequately perform regular field sobriety testing. He was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol and possession of narcotics.
He agreed to urine testing at the police station, and samples were sent to the state forensics lab for analysis.
Panagiotopoulos posted a $500 bond and was released at 3:30 a.m. His court date is Dec. 19 in state Superior Court in Stamford.
Previous DUI Arrests
Police haven’t reported a lot in recent months. Since early September: