Pedestrian Sign Crash Prompts DUI, Suboxone Possession Arrest

WARWICK, RI — A Warwick officer alerted to a white Ford F-150 that ran over a pedestrian sign in front of Warwick Central Baptist Church Oct. 30 at 10:28 p.m. arrested the driver for DUI and illegal possession of suboxone.

Officer Maxwell Neilly was called to the scene of the crash by an off-duty Coventry Police detective who had spotted the driver, identified as Scott Eidam, 55, of 123 Pembroke Ln., Coventry, apparently asleep at the wheel, and stopped to check on him, according to Neilly’s report.

When the detective knocked on the window of the truck to get the unconscious driver’s attention, the man was startled and drove the pickup over the nearby pedestrian sign, according to the report.

Neilly spoke with the driver, who was standing outside the truck, and appeared lost and confused. The driver said he had been returning from the parking lot where his Alcoholics Anonymous meeting was held. Eidam said he had had two beers before the meeting and spent the meeting time in the parking lot before leaving.

During a series of sobriety tests, Eidam exhibited a lack of smooth pursuit in his vision and involuntary eye movements, an inability to walk a straight line, and difficulty balancing for more than a few seconds on one foot, according to the report.

Neilly arrested Eidam on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol and transported him to Warwick Police Headquarters, 99 Veterans Memorial Drive. An inventory of Eidam’s pickup turned up a black case with 47 strips of Suboxone inside, as well as a bag of what was later determined to be water pills.

Eidam claimed to have a prescription for the Suboxone, but was unable to produce one, so Neilly also charged him with illegal possession of a controlled substance.

Eidam is scheduled for an arraignment on the charges Nov. 13 in Third Division District Court.