Oceanside Man Spits At, Threatens Officers During DUI Arrest: CHP

BAY AREA, CA – California Highway Patrol officers arrested an Oceanside man after he allegedly threatened and spit at officers during a DUI arrest Sunday night in the Bay Area.

Law enforcement responded to a 911 caller at 8 p.m. who said a possible DUI driver was weaving across all lanes on northbound U.S. Highway 101 near Petaluma Boulevard in Cotati, an incorporated city in Sonoma County. The caller said the driver had come close to crashing several times and no other cars were able to pass the driver.

CHP stopped the vehicle, a Ford Transit van, as it exited the highway and pulled it over at the Cotati Police Department parking lot. Officials identified the man as Drew Easton, a 32-year-old man from Oceanside.
His license had expired in 2014, according to CHP, and he showed signs of intoxication.

CHP officials said Easton failed sobriety tests and was nearly three times over the legal limit.

Easton physically resisted the officers and became verbally abusive when CHP tried to arrest him, according to CHP. Officials said he kicked and destroyed a camera and spit around the police car.

CHP said Easton also repeatedly threatened the officers with violence while he was being transported.
He was arrested on suspicion of a DUI, driving with a suspended license, felony vandalism and felony criminal threats.

By Bay City News Service; Kristina Houck/Patch contributed to this report.

Image via Shuttertsock