Officers Charge Erratic Driver with DUI

WARWICK, RI — Officer Christopher Gillis was driving on Jefferson Boulevard with Officer William Holz Sept. 14 at 11:16 p.m. when a 2014 Chevy Camaro passed them headed north taking its half of the street out of the middle, stopping and arresting the driver on a DUI charge.

Gillis pulled the cruiser into a U-turn and activated its lights to pull the Camaro over as it approached the entrance to Motel 6, but the car failed to stop, so Gillis turned on the siren, and that inspired a stop from the driver as the car turned right with out a signal on the on-ramp for 95 North.

Gillis approached the Camaro on the passenger’s side and spoke with the driver, William Bent, 34, of 35 Oaks Road, Framingham, MA, who had an open Sam Adams beer bottle in the cup holder, according to the officer’s report.

Gillis also reported smelling an odor of alcohol coming from the car, and that the driver had bloodshot, watery eyes.

Bent told Gillis he had taken a wrong turn off the highway while coming from a wedding rehearsal in Newport, where he had drank alcohol, according to Gillis’s report. The officer asked him to shut off his car and perform a series of sobriety tests.

During the tests, Bent demonstrated a lack of smooth pursuit in his vision, was unable to maintain heel-to-toe cadence during a walk and turn test, and swayed repeatedly, nearly falling over, while attempting to stand on one leg.

The officers arrested Bent on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol, and transported him to Warwick Police Headquarters, 99 Veterans Memorial Drive, where he registered a .169 and .172 blood alcohol content on successive blood alcohol breath tests.

Gillis charged Bent with DUI, .15 or greater, and transported him to Kent Hospital for detox.