Driving While Intoxicated 2017

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

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

Police: DUI for Man, 27, Driving at Erratic Speeds on Hoyt Street

Police: DUI for Man, 43, Reportedly Driving Erratically, Found on Garden City Road

Police: DUI for Man, 31, Swerving on Road, with Cocaine in His SUV

Police: Aroused by Strangers After Passing Out Behind Wheel of Her Running Car, Woman Drives Into Light Pole

Police: DUI for Man, 52, Swerving on Mansfield Ave

Police: DUI for Woman, 48, After 1 AM Arrest on Tokeneke Road

Police: DUI for Darien Man After Traffic Violations on Tokeneke Road

Police: DUI for Vespa Rider, 34, Already Wanted on DUI Charge in Florida

Police: DUI for Man, 28, with Expired Registration, Illegal Drug Under Seat

Police: DUI Charge for Darien Man, 35, Speeding Over 90 MPH on Highway

Police: Man Was Intoxicated, Driving and Tussling With the Guy His Ex-Girlfriend Was With

Police: DUI for Man Found Passed Out Behind the Wheel of a Running Car at 8:45 AM

Police: DUI for Man, 23, Who Drove Onto Highway, Drifting Between Lanes

Public Safety

By David Gurliacci | December 11, 2017

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By David Gurliacci | October 2, 2017

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By David Gurliacci | August 24, 2017

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By David Gurliacci | August 22, 2017

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By David Gurliacci | August 15, 2017

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By David Gurliacci | July 25, 2017

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By David Gurliacci | July 19, 2017

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By David Gurliacci | July 6, 2017

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By David Gurliacci | July 3, 2017

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By David Gurliacci | June 29, 2017

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By David Gurliacci | June 27, 2017

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By David Gurliacci | June 26, 2017

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By David Gurliacci | June 19, 2017

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By David Gurliacci | June 13, 2017

Public Safety

By David Gurliacci | June 7, 2017

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

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.

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.

A 27-year-old man was intoxicated at about 1:30 a.m., Friday, Aug. 18 as he drove on Hoyt Street, changing speeds drastically between 25 and almost 50 mph, Darien police said. Darien police described what happened with this account, including accusations not proven in court:

A police officer saw a black 1998 Honda Civic fail to stop for a stop sign at the intersection of Hoyt Street and Middlesex Road. As the car continued north on Hoyt, the officer followed. That’s when the officer saw that “the vehicle changed speeds drastically several times” between 25 and 49 mph, according to a police announcement.

A tip to police resulted in the arrest of a 43-year-old man who they found parked on Garden City Road sometime around midnight, Saturday to Sunday. Darien police gave this account of the incident, including accusations not proven in court:

At 11:52 p.m., police received a tip about an SUV being driven erratically in the area of the Post Road and Garden City Road. Police looked for the vehicle and found it, a gray 2005 Nissan Pathfinder. It matched the description given of the vehicle, including the license plate number

A police officer spoke with the driver, a Norwalk man, and smelled an alcoholic beverage coming from the man. The officer also saw that the man’s eyes were watery.

A 31-year-old man driving an SUV that was swerving over the double yellow line on Hoyt Street was arrested on charges of driving while intoxicated, and cocaine was found in the vehicle, police said. Darien police gave this account of what happened, including accusations not proven in court:

At about 2 a.m., a police officer saw a black 2005 Toyota 4runner swerving over the line on Hoyt Street south of Lynn Court. When the vehicle was pulled over, the officer could smell the odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from it, and the driver’s eyes were glassy and bloodshot. The driver, a resident of Mulberry Street in Stamford, told the officer that he’d had two drinks that night. The driver couldn’t correctly perform a sobriety field test and was arrested on a charge of driving while under the influence.

A 33-year-old woman with a child in her car was found behind the wheel, passed out at the intersection of Tokeneke Road and Old Farm Road, police said. When she was aroused by witnesses, she immediately drove the SUV she was driving into a light pole, toppling it, police said. Police did not report that the woman, the child in the car or anyone else was injured in the incident, which happened just before police were called at 2:24 a.m. on Saturday, July 22, police said. Darien police gave this further account of the incident, including accusations not proven in court:

When police arrived at the scene, they saw the driver, Zaida Gomez-Mendez of Norwalk, outside a 2007 Honda CRV, speaking to the child in the back seat. When police asked Gomez-Mendez what happened.

After someone called police to report an SUV swerving as it headed south on Mansfield Avenue, officers found the vehicle and its intoxicated driver, who was arrested, police said. Darien police described what happened with this account, including accusations not proven in court:

The caller told police the vehicle was a gray sport utility vehicle swerving in and out of its lane. An officer who went to the scene was waved down by a person near a truck parked in the parking lot of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church at 471 Mansfield Ave. The witness, who was later identified as the complainant, said the SUV had pulled over on the side of the road about 50 yards further south.

After a police officer saw a sport utility vehicle cross over the double yellow line on Tokeneke Road at about 1 a.m., the 48-year-old woman behind the wheel was charged with driving while under the influence of alcohol, police said. Darien police described what happened with this account, including accusations not proven in court:

At about 1 a.m. on Monday, June 26, the officer, who was watching traffic, saw the vehicle, a green 2016 Subaru Forester headed in the direction of Norwalk. After seeing it cross over the yellow lines, the officer pulled over the SUV near Five Mile River Road. The driver told the officer that she was coming from Ernie’s bar in downtown Darien. She was given field sobriety tests, which she failed, and she was charged with driving while under the influence and failure to stay on the right side of the road.

A Darien man who failed to stop for a stop sign, then drove over the double yellow line on Tokeneke Road at 2:28 a.m. on Sunday was found to have been drinking and was charged with driving while under the influence of alcohol, police said. Police described what happened with this account, including accusations not proven in court:

A police officer saw a gray 1998 Honda Accord leave the Interstate 95 Exit 12 ramp and turn right onto Tokeneke Road without stopping for the stop sign. The car crossed over the double yellow line, into the oncoming traffic lane, and the officer had the vehicle stop near the intersection of Tokeneke Road and Driftwood Lane. __________

See also: Mother of Teen Charged with Failing to Halt Alcohol Possession at Daughter’s 18th Birthday Party (July 3)

__________

The officer noticed the smell of alcohol on the breath of the 44-year-old driver. The man told the officer that all he had to drink that night was a single Heineken beer.

A police officer saw a man on a black 2015 Vespa scooter fail to stop for a red light, and then another red light, then swerve toward oncoming traffic twice at about 2:30 a.m. Saturday in downtown Darien, police said. The rider not only was intoxicated, police said: He was also wanted by police in Florida on charges of violating probation and driving while under the influence — and the police there wanted to extradite him. Police described the incident with this account, including accusations not proven in court:

The officer saw the scooter fail to stop for lights on the Post Road at its intersections with Tokeneke Road and Center Street. The Vespa was stopped at the intersection of the Post Road and Duffy’s Lane, about a mile and a half to the west. The officer saw the driver, 37-year-old Julian Santa of Norwalk, wasn’t wearing eye protection, as the law requires.

A 28-year-old driver was charged with driving while under the influence after he was stopped shortly after 2 a.m. when police saw that his license registration had expired, Darien police said. Police also said the man had PCP under the front passenger seat. Darien police described what happened with this account (including accusations not proven in court):

A police officer saw a blue 2000 Ford Excursion on Old Kings Highway South at about 2:11 a.m. on Tuesday, June 20. The license of the SUV had expired in September 2015. The Excursion got onto the northbound-traffic lanes of Interstate 95, and the officer stopped the vehicle at the Darien North rest stop.

When a 35-year-old Darien man later charged with driving while under the influence turned onto the Interstate 95 on ramp from Tokeneke Road, he

didn’t use his turn signal,
drove over the white fog line,
swerved between lanes and
sped faster than 90 mph on the highway,

according to police. Here’s the rest of the account (which includes accusations not proven in court) that Darien police gave describing the incident:

At about 12:46 a.m., a police officer saw a white 2016 Mazda CX traveling east on Tokeneke Road turn without signaling onto the I-95 on ramp. The car turned so fast onto the entrance ramp that it shifted left and passed over the white fog line for a while, before the driver corrected and got back into the lane. The driver sped faster than 90 mph and swerved between lanes before taking Exit 10, where the officer had it stop. The driver smelled of an alcoholic beverage, and his bloodshot eyes were glassy.

On Monday afternoon, June 12, according to Darien police, a 33-year-old man was intoxicated at 3:55 p.m., was driving in town and had gotten into a tussle with a man going out with his ex-girlfriend — and took that man’s eyeglasses. Here’s how Darien police described the situation, including accusations not proven in court:

Police were dispatched to the Darien Railroad Station on the report of an altercation. There they met the victim, who told them he came to Darien to return the driver’s license of a woman he was with the night before. While at the train station, the woman’s ex-boyfriend confronted him, and when the two were walking, the ex-boyfriend, a Stamford resident, struck the victim in the head, knocking his eyeglasses off. The Stamford man picked up the glasses, got into a black Audi and drove off.

Randolfo Ruiz-Lopez arrest photo mug shot 06-14-17

A 38-year-old man was charged with drunk driving Saturday after passers-by found him at 8:45 a.m., unconscious behind the wheel of a running car stopped at an angle on Woodway Road, police said. Darien police described the incident with this account, including accusations not proven in court:

Two witnesses told police they found Randolfo Ruiz-Lopez of Stamford passed out behind the wheel of a tan 1998 Toyota Camry stopped near the side of the road. The witnesses said they were able to put the car in park and turn it off, then rouse Ruiz-Lopez. He told police that the car had just stopped, and denied that he had been asleep at the wheel. Police officers smelled a strong odor of alcohol on his breath.

« August 2022 »

A charge of driving while under the influence came after a police officer saw a 23-year-old man drive an SUV from Tokeneke Road onto Interstate 95, where the vehicle drifting in and out of the right lane, police said. Darien police described what happened with this account, including accusations not proven in court:

At 2:36 a.m. on Saturday, June 3, police officers saw a white 2007 Ford Escape being driven east on Tokeneke Road. The SUV seemed to be going fast, then it made a sudden right turn onto the I-95 entrance near Exit 12 without signaling. The officer followed the vehicle. An officer saw the Escape drift in and out of the right lane several times, then pass another vehicle on the right just before the Darien South rest area.