By ZEINAB NAJM
Sunday Times Newspapers
ALLEN PARK — A police officer on patrol Feb. 13 observed a grey Nissan Altima traveling in front of his patrol vehicle in the right lane of southbound Southfield Road at Fern Street.
The Nissan was seen swerving and unable to maintain proper lane positioning while also crossing into the middle lane or traveling and onto the right shoulder of the freeway several times before correcting. A traffic stop was conducted on westbound I-94 just west of Southfield. When the officer made contact with the driver, she admitted to swerving and that she was listening to music.
Police noticed her speech to be slow and slurred along with an overwhelming odor of intoxicants emitting from her person. The driver said she hadn’t consumed any alcoholic beverages. She could not explain where she was coming from and only said that she was coming from Dearborn.
Field sobriety tests were conducted at the scene before the driver was arrested for operating while intoxicated and transported to the Allen Park Police Department. During the preliminary breathalyzer test, the driver said “I’m not gonna lie, I had a drink.” The test result was a .14 blood alcohol level, almost double the .08 legal limit in Michigan. Two more PBT tests were conducted at the police station with results of .19 and .18 blood alcohol levels, respectively.
She was issued a citation for operating while intoxicated with a blood alcohol level of .17 or higher, according to the report.
(Zeinab Najm can be reached at zein[email protected])