Taking Pills, Drinking Alcohol, Then Driving

One thing you can be certain of when it comes to police – an officer is ALWAYS an officer. Whether at work, at home, awake or asleep, on duty or off, a cop will remain a cop. Even if their uniform is at the cleaners and they’re out running errands with their kids. And cops are trained to notice things.

Just like the off-duty Van Buren County sheriff’s deputy recently who happened to take note of a motorist speeding and displaying reckless behavior in the village of Paw Paw recently.

The off-duty deputy immediately radioed officers who were on the clock at the time, and reported the driver, pointing out in his report that he had seen the driver crash his vehicle into a nearby ditch, and then work to extricate it before driving away again.

Police intercepted the vehicle at Kathryn Drive and Mark Place, where they noticed that the suspect was extremely intoxicated. According to the results of a BAC test, police were able to ascertain that the man’s blood alcohol content was more than three times Michigan’s legal limit of 0.08 percent, meaning that he will likely face “super drunk” OWI charges.

In addition to the significant alcohol consumption, police are saying that the suspect had also apparently taken quite a few prescription pills, which together with alcohol can form a sometimes lethal cocktail in the bloodstream.

The suspect, who is 28-years-old, was arrested and is expected to face charges of operating while intoxicated, and driving on a revoked or suspended license.

In addition, he is also considered to be a habitual offender, as this is his third drunk driving arrest. So on top of his “super drunk” status, being charged as a repeat offender is likely to increase the penalties, should he be convicted.