DUI: Post Road Light Driver Dozing Feb. 28

WARWICK, RI — A passerby alerted a WFD Rescue Feb. 28 at 2:23 a.m. to a driver dozing in a white Jeep at the Post Road light at Fairfax Drive for several cycles, resulting in a DUI charge.

Officer Jorge Ramirez was called to the intersection at 885 Post Road by the Rescue crew, finding Mindy McCarthy, 49, of 535 Roosevelt Ave., Apt. 208, Central Falls, RI, standing outside her 2023 Jeep Wrangler, leaning against the Rescue, according to the officer’s report.

Passerby Alerts WFD of Driver Dozing at Intersection

WFD Rescue personnel told Ramirez they’d been flagged down by a passerby who’d alerted them to the driver dozing, telling them the Jeep had been stopped at the intersection for about five minutes as the lights changed. Officer Dylan Estrella, who arrived to the scene first, told Ramirez he’d found the Mccarthy behind the wheel, with the Jeep still running, according to the report.

Ramirez noticed McCarthy was unsteady on her feet, leaning against the Rescue truck, that her eyes were bloodshot, her face flushed, and speech slurred as she spoke to him. He also noticed her breath smelled of alcohol, according to the report.

WFD personnel told Estrella the driver said she’d been coming from Chepachet, on her way home to Central Falls. Estrella also noted McCarthy’s eyes were bloodshot, her speech slurred, and the interior of her Jeep smelled of alcohol. She also appeared to be extremely lethargic with her movements and responses, according to Estrella’s report. When she stepped from the Jeep, she was unsteady on her feet, and nearly fell over, according to the officer.

Ramirez asked McCarthy to perform sobriety tests, which she refused. Ramirez arrested her on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol, and transported her to Warwick Police Headquarters, 99 Veterans Memorial Drive, where she also refused to submit to a breath test of her blood alcohol content.

Ramirez charged McCarthy with DUI, blood alcohol content unknown, and cited her for refusing the breath test, and also for a suspended registration, and stopping at an intersection. McCarthy was released on $1,000 personal recognizance and scheduled for a March 26 hearing in Third District Court. She was arraigned on the charge in Third District Court March 28, and scheduled for a pretrial conference on the charge for April 27.