WARWICK, RI — Officer Nicholas Manocchio arrested a Volkswaken Jetta driver for DUI after a three-car crash on Bald Hill Road Feb. 24 at 7:49 p.m.
Manocchio arrived on the scene, where the gray 2014 Jetta’s air bags had deployed, the officer reported. The car was positioned behind another car that had been rear-ended. The Jetta’s driver, Olga Dunbar, 63, of 148 S. Main St., Coventry, told him she hadn’t been injured, and she refused treatment from the Warwick Fire Department. As he spoke with Dunbar, Manocchio noted a smell of alcohol on the woman’s breath, and that her speech was slurred.
Manocchio asked if she’d been drinking, and the woman said she had drank four Budweisers earlier that night. Manocchio also noted her eyes were bloodshot and watery. He asked if she had any conditions that would prevent her from taking sobriety tests, and she said no, according to the report. Manocchio asked her to step out of her car and take the tests.
During the DUI tests, Dunbar miscounted her steps and stepped off-line, failing to walk heel-to-toe as instructed and using her arms for balance on every step. During a one-leg stand, she also used her arms for balance, swaying before putting her foot down after three seconds, saying, “I can’t do this,” according to Manocchio’s report. She also demonstrated a lack of smooth pursuit and involuntary eye movement in her vision.
Manocchio arrested Dunbar and transported her to Warwick Police Headquarters, 99 Veterans Memorial Drive, where she was marked as a refusal to take a breath test of her blood alcohol content, after failing to make a decision for about 20 minutes, according to the report. At the station, Dunbar disclosed she had been injured in an earlier crash and that affected her hips, legs and balance. When asked why she didn’t mention that earlier, she said she hadn’t remembered being asked.
Her Volkswagen was towed from the scene by West Shore Collision. Manocchio charged Dunbar with DUI, blood alcohol unknown, first offense, and cited her for refusing the breath test. She was later released to the custody of a sober adult.
She was arraigned on the DUI charge March 14 in Third Division District Court and scheduled for a pre-trial conference April 14, and released on $1,000 personal recognizance.
Author: Rob Borkowski
Rob has worked as reporter and editor for several publications, including The Kent County Daily Times and Coventry Courier, before working for Gatehouse in MA then moving home with Patch Media. Now he's publisher and editor of WarwickPost.com. Contact him at [email protected] with tips, press releases, advertising inquiries, and concerns.
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