Wrong-Way Driver Faces Dec. 16 DUI Charge

WARWICK, RI – Officers alerted to a wrong-way driver south on Rte. 95 North Dec. 16 at 12:30 a.m., spotted the man’s blue Honda CRV at the Jefferson Boulevard Mobil at 12:35 a.m.

Warwick Officer Bryan Araujo noted the driver of the CRV was also driving on the wrong side of Jefferson Boulevard. He stopped the SUV on the Rte. 95 North ramp, according to the report of WPD officer Kristopher Orellana, who arrived shortly after.

Orellana approached the wrong-way driver’s side of the SUV and identified the driver as Jose Sime Gonzalez, 52, of 107 Abbot St., Apt. 14, Providence, RI. As they spoke, Orellana reported a strong odor of alcohol on the driver’s breath, and that he slurred his speech.

Sime Gonzalez said he was returning home to Providence from a holiday party in Providence, and Orellana informed him he was in Warwick. The driver had no explanation for why he was driving on the wrong side of the road. He told the officer he’d had two or three beers during the party, according to the report.

Orellana ran the driver through a series of sobriety tests, during which Sime Gonzalez  demonstrated a lack of smooth pursuit and involuntary eye movement in his vision. He nearly fell and had to be caught by an officer prior to a walk and turn test, during which he broke heel to toe contact, stepped off-line and nearly fell again.

Orellana ended a one-leg stand test out of concern for the wrong-way driver’s safety after the man nearly fell numerous times attempting it, according to the report.

Orellana arrested Sime Gonzalez on suspicion of DUI, alcohol, and transported him to Warwick Police Headquarters, 99 Veterans Memorial Drive, where he registered a .178 and .180 on successive breath tests of his blood alcohol content and was subsequently charged with DUI.