Carson City deputies arrest man for driving wrong way on freeway, causing head-on collision while drunk
A 23-year-old Silver Springs man was arrested early Friday morning for DUI 2nd after allegedly causing a crash on the freeway by driving in the wrong direction while under the influence.
According to the arrest report, deputies were dispatched to the area of the 580 and Arrowhead at around 12:45 a.m. on report of a head-on accident alert in the area.
When deputies arrived on scene, they located a crashed vehicle on the shoulder of the road next to the second lane with a male, later identified as the 23-year-old, walking towards the center median where an SUV had also crashed.
Deputies met with the man to see if he was okay and needed medical attention, which the man denied. He stated he “screwed up driving tonight” and deputies observed he had red watery eyes, slurred speech and the smell of an alcoholic beverage emitting from his person.
Deputies spoke with the driver of the SUV, who was “standing outside her vehicle in a state of shock,” according to the report. The driver said she was okay but wanted to be checked by an ambulance to be sure.
She stated she was driving northbound on 580 when she saw headlights from a wrong way driver heading her direction and got into an accident. She said it happened so fast she didn’t know if her car rolled or if she just spun out.
Deputies called for the Carson City Fire Department to respond since both vehicles had an airbag deployment.
Deputies spoke with the 23-year-old and began field sobriety testing. Before the testing began, deputies told the man to walk to the front of their vehicle to begin testing. The man walked to the back of the vehicle instead. When deputies told him it was the back, he walked forward but then grabbed the front driver’s door handle to the deputy’s vehicle and attempted to open it to sit inside.
Deputies prevented him from sitting inside the vehicle and guided him to the front, according to the report.
Deputies asked him what time it was without looking at his watch, and he said it was 9:30 p.m. despite it being 1 a.m. He stated he’d had a few beers at the Pourhouse.
He blew a .271 BAC on the preliminary breath test, and was taken into custody.
$2,637
— A 33-year-old Reno man was arrested for speeding 20 mph over the speed limit in a school zone, obstructing and resisting with force, battery on a protected person, and DUI 2nd after allegedly speeding through a school zone while under the influence.
According to the arrest report, deputies were patrolling in the area of Saliman and Seeley just after 3 p.m. when they witnessed a vehicle passing cars on Saliman during an active 15 mph school zone.
Deputies stated the vehicle was going 35 mph in the zone, and stopped the vehicle at Robison St.
According to the report, deputies noticed damage to the bumper and taillight of the vehicle on the driver’s side. They stated they walked up to the window and observed a male driver looking straight ahead with the window rolled up.
The deputy knocked on the window, and the driver rolled the window down “about an inch” according to the report. The deputy asked him to roll it down further so he could hear him and speak to him, and the driver said “this is fine.”
The deputy continued to ask the driver to roll the window down further, and the driver continued stating “this is fine.”
Finally, the driver said “this is fine” once more but rolled his window down about a third of the way.
Deputies stated the driver’s eyes were red and watery and his speech was muffled and slurred. The deputy stated due to the tinting of the window, they could not see the driver’s hands through the window and instructed the driver to roll the window down all the way.
The driver continued to be uncooperative, according to the report, and stated he did not need to roll it down any further and that deputies “stopped him for no reason.”
When deputies stated he was going 35 mph in a 15 mph zone, the driver “but his head in his hands and began to cry out, but then gained his composure,” according to the report.
The deputy told the driver they needed to be bale to hear him, see inside his vehicle for their safety, and get his driver’s license, registration and insurance. The driver continued to tell the deputy he was not going to comply, and stated he was “going with the flow of traffic.”
Deputies opened the door to the vehicle, and the driver closed the door on the deputy’s body.
The deputy pushed the door back open, and once again he driver pulled the door back into the deputy’s left side.
Another deputy stepped in between the first deputy and the driver and removed him from the vehicle and placed him in handcuffs.
Deputies located the driver’s wallet and identified him from his California license plate. Once out of the vehicle, deputies stated they could smell the “overwhelming odor” of an alcoholic beverage coming from his person.
Deputies asked if he had been drinking and he said he had not. He stated he was at a bar with friends but then stopped talking about where he was or what he was doing. He stated he travels for work and was working at a Reno hospital.
The man refused all testing including field sobriety tests, preliminary breath tests, and stated he would not voluntarily submit to either a breath or blood sample.
Deputies stated upon further inspection of the vehicle it was clear that the vehicle had struck something recently as the dents and creases were fresh, and the rubber transfer was still tacky from the object the man had collided with while driving.
The man was placed under arrest for speeding in a school zone, obstruction, battery on a protected person, and DUI.
Bail: $7,692
All information for the crime log (unless otherwise noted) comes from the arrest reports supplied by the Carson City Sheriff's Office, and is considered by law to be public information. All subjects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. The policy of Carson Now is to name anyone who is arrested for a felony offense.