Brecksville Police Blotter: Driving Under the Influence and Drinking Underage

The following incidents were reported by the from Jan. 9 to Jan. 14. The information was compiled from police reports.

Driving slower isn’t always safer
A truck swerving around another vehicle on Interstate 77 caught the eye of an officer at 1:46 a.m. on Jan. 14. The officer realized the truck was trying to get around a black sedan that was swerving across the road and going far under the speed limit—about 30 miles per hour.

The driver, a 49-year-old Cleveland man, was swaying and told the officer he had been drinking. The man was taken back to the station and later charged with operating a vehicle under the influence, operating a vehicle under the influence with a blood alcohol level above .17, driving in a weaving course and slow speed.

Speeding leads to an underage drinking charge
An officer pulled over a speeding car on Interstate 77 around 1:30 a.m. on Jan. 10. The driver, an 18-year-old Streetsboro man, gave the officer a state ID, saying he didn’t have a driver’s license. The car belonged to the passenger, a 19-year-old Parma woman. The passenger told police they were leaving a reception for her grandmother, who had passed away. Police later found that was not the case.

There was an open bottle of wine in the backseat and an open box of wine in the trunk. The passenger said they were hers and told police she had two glasses earlier that night. She was charged with underage possession and consumption and with having an open container in a car. The driver was charged with speeding and with not having an operator’s license.

Driver’s lack of balance tips off the police
Police got a tip about a possible drunk driver on Jan. 9 and set out to find them around 8:20 p.m. An officer caught up to the SUV, which was weaving in its lane on Miller Road. The driver, a 42-year-old Brecksville man, lost his balance before the officer could give him any field sobriety tests, so they went back to the station.

Once there, he told police he had been drinking at local bars and was trying to go home. He still had trouble keeping his balance, so police stopped trying to give him sobriety tests after they checked his eyes. His breath sample showed that he was above the legal blood alcohol content. The driver was charged with operating a vehicle under the influence, operating a vehicle under the influence with a blood alcohol level above .204 and with driving in a weaving course.

For questions about this blotter, email Rachel.Abbey@patch.com.