'Flipped' Van's Driver Charged With DUI; Spiked 'Cookies' in Vehicle

An East Providence man, 26, was charged by police with drunk driving after the ADT Security Services van he was driving flipped over on Martin Street last Thursday at about 4:20 pm after hitting a landscaping company trailer parked along the road.

Robert J. Andrews, of 175 Quarry St., was charged with a DUI, failing to maintain control of the van, carrying alcohol in the vehicle and refusing a second chemical test. A preliminary breath test he took, according to police, showed a blood-alcohol level of .269 -- more than three times the legal limit.

When a towing company flipped the van back onto its wheels, police found several vodka 'sugar cookies' in the vehicle and a bottle of mouth wash. Andrews told police that he had downed a couple of vodka shots with the owner of a home where he installed a security system earlier in the day.

The van struck the trailer parked on the north side of the street just west of Custer Street. No one was injured. Andrews reportedly refused medical treatment, according to a police officer on the scene.

The Forever Green trailer was knocked up onto the curb when it was hit.

Several fire trucks and patrol vehicles responded to the crash site just east of South Broadway on Martin Street. The street was closed up to Custer Street and traffic was rerouted until the van could be turned over and towed away.