Police say: A 24-year-old Darien woman who was drinking was followed by an officer on patrol and pulled over after failing to stop for a stop sign; she passed field sobriety tests but was ticketed for having marijuana.
Darien police described the incident in this account (with accusations not proven in court, although this kind of a case seldom gets that far):
The woman was driving a Jeep at a “high rate of speed” at about 1:49 a.m. Sunday, Dec. 27 on Old Kings Highway South when an officer in a patrol car spotted her vehicle.
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The officer followed the Jeep as it turned onto Cross Street, then the Post Road, then Renshaw Road and Park Place, where the officer saw it fail to completely stop at the sign on the corner of Park Street and Fitch Avenue.
The woman told the officer she was driving home, and the officer smelled alcohol on her breath. The officer also smelled marijuana coming from the car. The driver explained that a friend had been smoking pot in the vehicle earlier that night. Her driver’s license had expired, and she hadn’t noted a change of address on it.
The woman was given field sobriety tests, which she passed, but because of the smell of marijuana, her car was searched.
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See also: Drinking & Driving? Extra Darien Police Patrols Would Like to Meet up with You (Dec. 29)
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Police found small amounts of marijuana in a bowl in the center console, another 1.18 grams in a prescription pill container with her name on it, another 12.07 grams in a plastic bag in another part of the center console, as residue on a blue and purple glass smoking device and as residue on a Santa Cruz Shredder brand of grinder. There was another smoking pipe in the pocket of a sweatshirt in the car.
In all, police found 13.25 grams of marijuana in the car — leading to police issuing an infraction ticket for possession of less than half an ounce of marijuana. The woman was also ticketed for having drug paraphernalia (in this case, an infraction), and given verbal warnings for not stopping for a stop sign, letting her driver’s license expire and not changing the address.
Her vehicle was left in a parking lot in Town Hall overnight, and police drove her home.
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Editor’s note, if you’ve got a license to renew or need an address change on it: Driver’s license renewals and related services can often be taken care of at AAA offices, where lines may be nonexistent or at least much, much shorter than at the DMV. To find out more about that, see this Web page on the Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles website, which links to locations, hours and information on what DMV services AAA provides. You do not have to be a member of AAA to use their offices, but they can charge you an extra $3. The AAA’s nearest offices are in Stamford, Norwalk, Fairfield and Danbury.