Police in Connecticut say that a 41-year-old man was drunk when he fell asleep in his vehicle at a Middletown fast food establishment during the early morning hours of Oct. 11. Middlesex County police say that the man was taken into custody after officers concluded that he was under the influence of alcohol.
The incident took place at the drive-thru window of a hamburger restaurant on South Main Street at approximately 1:30 a.m. According to restaurant employees, the man ordered food at the first window of the drive-thru but failed to appear at the second window to collect his order. The police were called after the employees determined that the man had fallen asleep in his vehicle.
Responding police officers say that they arrived to discover the man asleep in his running pickup truck. They claim that the man offered to pay for his food when he was woken up. According to a police report, the man was taken into custody after performing poorly in a field sobriety test. Police claim that the man later refused to submit to a breath test.
Law enforcement officers may ask that a defendant perform field sobriety tests in order to determine if that individual is impaired. However, these tests are subjective in nature, and they have been found to be unreliable under certain circumstances. A criminal defense attorney may question the results of a field sobriety test if the motorist suffers from certain medical conditions. A defense attorney may also point out mitigating factors to prosecutors as they seek to have drunk driving charges reduced or dismissed. These factors could include a motorist’s prior good record or that no accident or injuries occurred.
Source: The Hartford Courant, “Police: Middletown Man Found Asleep In Line At McDonald’s Drive-Thru,” Nicholas Rondinone, Oct. 20, 2014
Source: WSBT, “Man charged with DUI after falling asleep at drive-thru”, October 23, 2014
