WARWICK, RI — Officer Derek Mourato was patrolling as part of a DUI detail March 18 at 1:18 a.m. a few hours past St. Patrick’s Day on Rte. 95 north near Exit 15 when he spotted a swerving car traveling into Cranston, pulled it over and arrested the driver on a DUI charge.
Mourato followed the car as it braked excessively and tailgated the car in front of it, and pulled it over after it crossed the line into Cranston, according to the officer’s report. He identified the driver as Nina Menillo, 32, of 142 Chestnut Hill Ave., Cranston,
Mourato reported the woman’s eyes were bloodshot, water and she slurred her words as they spoke. Menillo said she was returning home from work at Longhorn, where she had had two beers and a shot at the end of her shift.
The officer asked her to perform some sobriety tests, and Menillo agreed, exhibiting a lack of smooth pursuit in her vision, lost balance and used her arms to steady her balance during a walk and turn test, and prefaced her one-leg-stand performance by saying, ” ‘Oh, Jesus, I can’t do this,'” and fulfilled that prophecy. After she put her foot down on a count of two, hopped and used her arms for balance, Mourato ended the test out of concern for her safety.
Mourato arrested Menillo and transported her to Warwick Police Headquarters, 99 Veterans Memorial Drive, where she refused to take a breath test of her blood alcohol level. He charged her with DUI, and cited her for refusing the test, lane violations and not using her headlights. She was held at the station overnight because she was also a bail violator.
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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