DUI Arrest After Car Flips Over and Over

A New Canaan man, 46, has been charged with driving while under the influence after an automobile accident in which two young women were hurt, one with a concussion, town police said.

New Canaan police gave this account (an accusation not proven in court) of the matter:

Jeffrey Jacob of Smith Ridge Road was intoxicated after five drinks when he was driving his 2013 BMW north behind the vehicle with the two New Canaan women in it, and he was following too close shortly before 11:30 p.m. on July 17.

About two tenths of a mile north of the intersection of Smith Ridge Road and Country Club Road, both vehicles were damaged in an accident, although the car with the two women in it fared much worse:

Jacob’s car had front-end damage. The other car, a 2011 Nissan, flipped over more than once and ended up on a guardrail on the southbound-traffic side of the road, facing south, with debris from the damaged vehicle leaving a trail. That car was totaled.

One of the women in the car had cuts on the top of her head and a concussion; the other, neck pain and some cuts. Both were taken to Norwalk Hospital.

Jacob, whose car ended up about 50 feet from the accident spot, did not call 911 and was later charged with evading responsibility, driving while intoxicated and following too closely. It was unclear from the New Canaan police briefing why he was charged with evading responsibility.

A police officer who spoke with Jacobs noted he had a strong odor of alcohol about him and didn’t recall his own direction of travel or anything about the accident.

He was taken to Norwalk Hospital and not given field sobriety tests at the scene because police thought he was injured too much to perform the tests, but at the hospital his blood was not taken after Jacob refused to allow it. (Normally, hospital blood-test records are later subpoenaed by a judge’s order in DUI investigations.)

After failing to get blood-alcohol information from the hospital, police then applied for an arrest warrant for Jacob. That took some time after a prosecutor or judge had questions about the warrant and a new application was made at least once. Eventually, the warrant was approved.

On Dec. 23, Jacob turned himself in at New Canaan Police Headquarters. He was arrested and released on $1,000 bond. He is scheduled to appear Jan. 5 in state Superior Court in Norwalk.