By SUE SUCHYTA
Sunday Times Newspapers
MELVINDALE — A 35-year-old Taylor man was arrested for operating under the influence of alcohol and for fleeing Melvindale police officers the night of Dec. 3, in a chase that ended on his front lawn in Taylor.
The police officer first noticed an older model white Ford Expedition being driven at 57 mph on Oakwood Boulevard in a 30-mph zone. The driver then ran a red light at Oakwood Boulevard and Allen Road, and the police officer activated his emergency lights and siren to initiate a traffic stop.
The driver, however, did not stop, and entered I-94 westbound, then exited to south Pelham Road, on the Allen Park and Taylor border. He then entered the city of Taylor on westbound Wick Road. The driver then turned south onto Mortenview Drive, and drove onto his own front yard in the 9800 block of Mortenview Drive, where he came to a stop with both Melvindale and Taylor police officers in pursuit.
The man was ordered out of his vehicle at gunpoint. He complied, and said he “was dumb and should have never drank or run.”
His wife, who exited the house and came out onto the lawn during her husband’s arrest, said he had been talking to her on the phone, and he wanted to drive his vehicle home because he “couldn’t afford to get it out of impound.”
However, the car was impounded anyway. The man failed multiple field sobriety tests. A preliminary breath test was administered, and the man had a blood alcohol content of 0.15, nearly twice the 0.08 limit for legally drunk in Michigan. He was then taken to the Dearborn police station, where he was booked and held.