Night Police Lights CT State Police on Facebook March 30-17 uploaded 06-20-17

Police: DUI, Drug Charges for Man Found Driving, Drinking and With Cocaine

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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.

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Police: DUI for Darien Man After Crash Sends Three to Hospital

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A 38-year-old Darien man was charged with driving while under the influence after his car crossed over into the opposite lane and hit a compact SUV. The crash sent three occupants of that vehicle, including a 10-year-old, to the hospital. The arrested man had in his blood between three and four times the legal amount of alcohol for a driver when he was given a breath test more than an hour after the accident was reported, according to police. Darien police described what happened with this account, including accusations not proven in court:

Shortly before 5:23 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 25 (when the incident was reported to police), Michael Sheppeard, 38, of Stanton Road was driving a tan 2008 Ford Expedition on Old Kings Highway South.

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Police: DUI for Woman, 26, Operating Damaged SUV at Twice Legal Blood-Alcohol Limit

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A 26-year-old woman had more than twice the legal alcohol limit in her blood and her driving privileges had been already revoked when police stopped her car downtown on Saturday night, police said. Darien police described what happened with this account (including accusations not proven in court):

Earlier that day, police had received a report of a “blue minivan” that had been involved in a collision in the parking lot of Stop and Shop supermarket on Heights Road, so they were on the lookout for a similar car with damage. At about 10:02 p.m., police saw a blue Toyota 4Runner sport utility vehicle that had received “substantial damage.” It was being driven on West Avenue near its intersection with the Post Road. A police officer pulled up to the SUV, which had New York state license plates, and asked the driver what happened to the vehicle.

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Police: DUI Charge at 2 AM for Man, 38, on Leroy Ave

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Police say a 38-year-old man driving on Leroy Avenue just before 2 a.m. was stopped when his SUV went over the double yellow line three times, and when his breath was tested, he was a bit over the limit for blood-alcohol content. Darien police gave this account of the incident, which includes accusations not proven in court:

The officer saw a gray, 2005 Toyota RAV4 sport utility vehicle traveling north on Leroy Avenue just before 2 a.m. on Saturday morning, April 8. After seeing the vehicle cross over the line into the oncoming lane three times, the officer had the driver pull over near the intersection of Leroy and McLaren Road. _________

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Police: DUI for Man, 28, Driving West on Eastbound Side of Post Road

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At the stretch of the Post Road where a grassy median splits up eastbound and westbound traffic, a police officer recently saw an intoxicated driver going west on the eastbound side. No accident resulted. Police said the driver was seen at 1:50 a.m. Friday, and the police officer stopped the driver on the entrance ramp to the southbound-traffic side of Interstate 95 near Exit 13. Police described what happened next in this account, which includes statements not proven in court:

The driver, a New Haven resident, was first seen leaving the southbound Exit 13 ramp. When the police officer stopped the black 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee, the officer smelled alcohol coming from inside the vehicle.

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Police: DUI for Woman, 33, Driving So Slow That Traffic Was Backing Up Behind Her — at 1:20 AM

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A Darien police officer saw a woman driving so slowly on Interstate 95 that traffic was backing up behind her as she changed lanes without using turn signals, police said. The woman was charged with driving while under the influence. Darien police described what happened with this account (including accusations not proven in court):

The officer was driving southbound near Exit 10 on the highway at 1:20 a.m. on Saturday, March 18 when he saw the car, a 2010 Toyota Prius, as the Stamford woman was driving it. _________

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Darien Police Night 03-01-17

Police Charge Man, 36, with DUI on Post Road

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Darien police said that when a 36-year-old man driving on the Post Road near Thorndal Circle was charged with driving under the influence, he already had an ignition interlock device in his vehicle — a machine mandated for DUI arrestees to prevent them from driving while intoxicated again. Police described what happened with this account (including accusations not proven in court):

Joel Fernandes of Riverside Avenue in Stamford was driving a gray 2003 Toyota Avalon east on the Post Road at about 3:11 a.m. when a police officer saw the car switch lanes without giving the proper signal and then saw the car drive over the double yellow line three times. When the car was stopped near the intersection of the Post Road and Thorndal Circle, a police officer smelled alcohol coming from the vehicle, along with the odor of marijuana that had just been smoked. A police officer had to ask Fernandes numerous times to provide his driver’s license, insurance and registration. Fernandes’ eyes were red and glassy, and his speech was slow and slurred.

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Man, 28, Gets DUI & Other Charges After Stop on Old Kings Hwy South

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Although he appears to have been living in the area for some time, possibly years, a 28-year-old driver told police he didn’t have a Connecticut driver’s license when he was stopped on Old Kings Hwy. South on Wednesday just before he was charged with driving while under the influence, police said. Instead of a driver’s license, the man, a resident of Washington Street in Norwalk, handed the officer his Mexican passport, according to police. Darien police described what happened with this account (including accusations not proven in court):

At about 1:09 a.m., a police officer saw a green 2002 Chrysler 300 moving east on the Post Road near Old Kings Highway South. The car crossed over the double yellow line three times within a quarter of a mile, and the officer stopped the vehicle after it had turned onto Old Kings Highway South.

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Police: DUI for Man, 29, Driving 4X Over Double Yellow Line on Tokeneke Road

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A 29-year-old driver later charged with driving while under the influence didn’t stop for a stop sign and crossed the double yellow line on Tokeneke Road four times, Darien police said. Police described what happened with this account, including accusations not proven in court:

At about 12:46 a.m. on Friday, a police officer saw a 2011 Ford F350 pickup truck leave the Exit 12 ramp of Interstate 95 and, without stopping for the stop sign at the end of the ramp, turn right on Tokeneke Road. The pickup crossed over the double yellow line four times. The officer stopped the vehicle near the Tokeneke Road intersection with Harriet Lane. _________

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Police: DUI for Man, 26, Whose Driver’s License Had Already Been Suspended

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A 26-year-old man told police he had about five drinks before he was charged with driving while under the influence at a 2:09 a.m. traffic stop Sunday on the Post Road near Academy Street, police said. Darien police described the incident with this account, which includes accusations not proven in court:

A police officer saw a gray 2010 Nissan Z being driven without headlights and pulled it over. The officer immediately smelled alcohol coming from the driver and saw the man’s eyes were bloodshot and glassy. _________

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DUI for Man, 18, After SUV Hits a Tree on Bailey Ave

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When a 18-year-old driver on Bailey Avenue tried to make a U-turn in his 2008 Saturn Vue, he hit a tree, and his air bag deployed, Darien police said. And from the police account, it looks like his trouble was only beginning. Darien police described what happened with this account, including accusations not proven in court:

The man was out of the SUV when police arrived after the accident was reported at 9:25 p.m. on Dec. 27. The vehicle’s air bag had deployed.

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Police: DUI for Darien Man, 60, Found Driving Too Fast on Old Kings Hwy South

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A police officer saw a car being driven too fast on Old Kings Highway South at 1:20 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 20 and wound up charging the man behind the wheel with driving while intoxicated, police said. Darien police gave this account of the matter (including accusations not proven in court):

The officer believed the car was traveling at about 45 mph in a zone clearly marked as 25 mph. When the car went over speed bumps on the road, the officer could see the rear tires leave the pavement around at least one of the speed bumps. When the car, a gray 2016 BMW X3, was stopped on the road, near its intersection with McCrae Lane, the driver said he had been drinking earlier.

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Police: DUI for Man, 24, Driving on Wrong Side of the Road

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A police officer saw an SUV driven on the wrong side of a traffic island at the intersection of  Tokeneke Road and Old Farm Road and later charged the driver, a 24-year-old man, with driving while under the influence, police said. Darien police described what happened with this account (including accusations not proven in court):

At about 1:49 a.m. on Sunday, Jan. 15, a police officer saw a gray 2005 Honda CRV with Wisconsin license plates approach the intersection from Old Farm Road, then drive to the left of the traffic island, into the opposite lane, before turning left on Tokeneke Road. The officer stopped the vehicle a short distance away, near the entrance to Interstate 95 on Tokeneke Road. The officer could smell the strong odor of alcohol when speaking with the driver, a Trumbull resident, who said he was lost but driving home.

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Darien Man Charged with DUI & Driving 54 MPH on Post Road

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A Darien man was arrested on a charge of driving while under the influence and speeding after a police officer saw the man’s car speeding along the Post Road and then smelled alcohol on the driver’s breath, police said. Darien police described what happened with this account (including accusations not proven in court):

At about 12:30 a.m., the driver, 26, of Goodwives River Road, was driving east on the Post Road when the police officer spotted his black 2015 Toyota Corola near the intersection with Lighthouse Way. The car was traveling as fast as 54 mph on the road at a spot where the speed limit is 35 mph. The officer pulled over the vehicle. After smelling alcohol on the driver’s breath, the officer had him take field sobriety tests, which the driver couldn’t successfully complete.