Car Hits Brick Mailbox In Westlake, Driver Arrested For Drinking

WESTLAKE, OH — Tree lawns and brick mailboxes were not safe from allegedly drunk drivers over the past two weeks in Westlake, police said. Two drivers were arrested after they caused damage to private property with their cars.

Last Tuesday, callers reported that a car had smashed into a brick mailbox on Primrose Lane. The passenger in the car was taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

The driver told police she had looked down at her phone before the collision. Officers thought the driver showed signs of being intoxicated.

Field sobriety tests were given and the driver reportedly did not do well. She was arrested for operating a vehicle while intoxicated. At Westlake Jail, the driver was given a breath test and she was found to be 2.5 times over the legal limit for blood-alcohol content.

The driver was later handed over to a sober person, but she was given a court date in the Rocky River Municipal Court.

Just a few days earlier, on October 12, police received mid-afternoon reports that a Ford Focus had driven over tree lawns and then slid back into the middle of the street on Dover Center. Officers found the car and the driver was allegedly passed out behind the wheel, police said.

The officer woke the woman and immediately noticed that she smelled like alcohol. The driver was lethargic and had to be taken to the hospital because she was drifting in and out of consciousness. Before being taken to a local medical facility, the woman told police she had not been drinking that day.

Officers didn't believe her and subpoenaed her blood test results from the hospital. Police said the woman was five times over the legal limit of alcohol in her system. She was also charged with operating a vehicle intoxicated, police said.

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Photo from Westlake Police