The vehicle had its right turn signal on. After turning around and parking behind a vehicle also northbound behind the stopped Jeep, the officer signaled the other driver to go around it.
The officer was unable to rouse the woman for several minutes. The vehicle was in drive and her foot on the brake but when she finally roused, she attempted to exit the vehicle without putting it in park. She did not listen to the officer’s order to do so and he had to put it in park and turn off the engine.
The officer noted the odor of an alcoholic beverage in the vehicle.
She began to walk away but was stopped and taken to the police cruiser. She was reportedly incoherent in her responses to questions at one point saying, “But I’m not driving, you’re driving.” She said the vehicle did not belong to her.
She said she had not been to any bars and did not drink any alcohol but did not make sense in most of her responses.
She was asked to perform field sobriety tests and was asked again about drinking and admitted to one or two drinks but did not know where. She said she was visiting a friend.
The first test produced four clues to intoxication and the second test, the walk and turn, provided six more. On another attempt at that test, she told the officer, “For nine concussions, that’s pretty good. I can’t walk a straight line absolutely sober.”
Finally, she admitted she was a sophomore at Miami University.
The officer did not ask her to do the one-leg stand for fear she would fall and injure herself because her balance was so compromised.
She was handcuffed and taken to the police department where she refused to perform the breath test. She was told her license would be suspended as a result. She was given a citation for operating a vehicle under the influence and duty to display license and a summons for offenses concerning underage persons. She was then released to a friend.
The vehicle, owned by her mother, was towed to the police impound lot.
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