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Man Tries Driving Around Traffic Cop, Arrested for DUI

The Warwick Police Department is located at 99 Veterans Memorial Drive.
The Warwick Police Department is located at 99 Veterans Memorial Drive.
The Warwick Police Department is located at 99 Veterans Memorial Drive.

Warwick, RI — Officer Robert Hart was working a construction traffic detail near 3159 Post Road Oct. 14 at 1:36 a.m., when he stopped a driver of a silver 2004 Volkswagen Jetta trying to steer around him, arresting the man on a DUI charge.

Hart was halting traffic so construction equipment could be moved into the road, but the Jetta’s driver tried swerving around the officer. Hart stepped in front of the car, shining his flashlight at the driver, ordering the man to stop five times before the man complied.

The driver halted the car in the breakdown lane, and Hart spoke with the man, identifying him as Derick Szydlo, 19, of 15 Sharon St., Warwick.

Hart asked where he was coming from, and Szydlo told the officer he was headed home. Hart repeated his question twice more, and Szydlo said he was coming from his girlfriend’s home, but wasn’t able to say where that was.

 

 

Hart noted Szydlo seemed impaired, and could smell an odor of alcohol on his breath. The officer invited him to perform a series of sobriety tests, which he failed.

Officer Gavin McVeigh arrived on the scene and performed the tests. Szydlo demonstrated a lack of smooth pursuit in his vision, nearly fell over after attempting the walk and turn, and also nearly fell over during the one leg stand.

Szydlo said he had problems with his knees and would not have been able to peform the last two tests under any circumstances. Nonetheless, due to the first test, the physical and odor signs, McVeigh arrested him and transported him to Warwick Police headquarters, where he refused to submit to chemical test.

McVeigh charged Szydlo with DUI, first offense, blood alcohol unknown. He was also issued a violation for failing to obey a police officer, and also for refusing the chemical test.

Szydlo was released to a sober adult.

Rob Borkowski
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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