Police: Man, 42, Charged with DUI After Officer Saw Him Swerving from Lane to Lane

A 42-year-old man, stopped when a Darien police officer saw his vehicle swerving from lane to lane, told the officer that he’d had only two drinks, but a breath test showed his blood-alcohol level at more than twice the legal limit.

Darien police described the arrest with this account, including accusations not proven in court:

At 1:02 a.m., an officer 0n patrol was driving on the northbound-traffic side of Interstate 95 when the officer saw a vehicle swerving several times, crossing into the right and left lanes before returning to the middle lane. The officer stopped the vehicle.

The driver, a 42-year-old Norwalk man, said he was headed home after a soccer game in Stamford. Asked how much he had to drink, the man said, “Two beers.”

The officer noticed the man had glassy, red eyes, had slurred speech and difficulty speaking, and the officer smelled an alcoholic beverage coming from inside the car. He asked the driver to step outside for field sobriety tests.

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Once the driver was outside the vehicle, the officer noticed that the smell of alcohol was coming from the man’s mouth. The man was unsteady on his feet, swaying back and forth, and couldn’t complete the tests correctly. The officer charged him with driving under the influence.

At 1:38 a.m., at Darien Police Headquarters, the man was given a breathalyzer test, which showed his blood-alcohol level at 0.1814, more than twice the legal limit of 0.08. A second test at 1:57 a.m., showed an even higher result — 0.1894. (Blood-alcohol continues rising a little while after a person stops drinking.)

The man was released at 2:20 a.m. on a $250 bond. His driver’s license was held by police for 24 hours, a standard procedure in DUI arrests. He is scheduled to appear May 31 in state Superior Court in Stamford.

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Police reported these other DUI arrests in March, April and May:

• Police: DUI for Man, 23, Who Believed He Was in New Canaan (May 22)
• Police: DUI for Woman, 26, Operating Damaged SUV at Twice Legal Blood-Alcohol Limit (May 8)
• Police: DUI Charge at 2 AM for Man, 38, on Leroy Ave (April 11)
• Police: DUI for Man, 28, Driving West on Eastbound Side of Post Road (March 21)
• Police: DUI for Woman, 33, Driving So Slow That Traffic Was Backing Up Behind Her — at 1:20 AM (March 20)
• Police Charge Man, 36, with DUI on Post Road (March 13)
• Man, 28, Gets DUI & Other Charges After Stop on Old Kings Hwy South (March 7)
• Police: DUI for Man, 29, Driving 4X Over Double Yellow Line on Tokeneke Road (March 6)