Crime & Safety
Cops: Inebriated Driver Hits Car, Liquor Store in Mother's Mercedes
No major injuries were reported as an intoxicated Darien man hits one car, then hits a liquor store, according to Darien police.
An intoxicated Darien man on the Post Road hit one car, then crashed into a liquor store in a Mercedes-Benz owned by his mother — who said he didn't have permission to drive it, Darien police said.
No serious injuries arose from the back-to-back crashes, according to police, who gave this account (an accusation not proven in court):
At about 5 p.m. on Tuesday, July 1, John Roney, 53, of Long Neck Point Road was driving his mother's Mercedes 8350 west on the Post Road when the car hit the side of a vehicle that was stopped in a driveway as the driver waited to enter the Post Road.
The driver of the stopped car said the Mercedes was traveling at a high speed then turned right into the parking area at 1937 Post Rd., the location of Frate's Wine & Liquors in downtown Noroton. The Mercedes hit that building.
The driver of the hit vehicle went over to the crashed Mercedes and removed the keys from the Mercedes' ignition.
According to that driver, Roney seemed unaware of what was going on after the crash. He got out of the car and sat on a nearby bench.
Roney has two previous arrests on charges of driving while under the influence.
Police who arrived on the scene found Roney's eyes were glassy and bloodshot and his speech was slurred. Roney said he had not been drinking.
And they found a nearly empty pint bottle of vodka in the car.
Roney was given field sobriety tests, which he did not pass, and then was charged with driving while under the influence and use of a motor vehicle without the owner's permission.
While Roney was being taken to Police Headquarters, his mother called police to tell them that her son was driving her car without her permission.
At Darien Police Headquarters, Roney's blood-alcohol content was measured at 0.1117 at 6:05 p.m. and at 0.1012 at 6:24 p.m. The legal limit is 0.08 for adults over the age of 21.
Roney was held in lieu of paying a $500 bond and later appeared in state Superior Court in Stamford, where his next court date is July 14.
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