Man, 37, Charged with DUI After Fender Bender

A 37-year-old man driving intoxicated on Leroy Avenue rear-ended a vehicle in front of him on Friday, Dec. 6, had a crack pipe on him and was driving a car without the permission of its owner, police said.

Darien police gave this account (an accusation not proven in court) of the matter:

Just before 5:11 p.m., Moises Morales of Norwalk was driving north on Leroy Avenue near Bailey Avenue when his vehicle struck another one in front of him that was stopped for the traffic light at the corner of Leroy and West avenues.

Morales told police that he didn't know what had happened. As the police officer was speaking with Morales, the officer smelled a strong odor of alcohol on him and saw that his eyes were bloodshot and glassy. It was difficult to understand Morales, according to the officer, because Morales' speech was slurred.

Asked what he'd been drinking, Morales said he'd had some Corona beers. Morales was given field sobriety tests and failed them. While Morales was being taken into custody, police found a clear glass cylinder with a burnt end connected to wire mesh, which the officer recognized as a crack pipe.

Morales admitted that he had smoked crack cocaine that day. Darien police arranged for him to take a urine test for alcohol and drug content in his body.

The 1999 Dodge Durango SUV that Morales was driving sustained heavy front-end damage from the accident. The SUV is owned by a woman who told police she hadn't given Morales permission to use it and didn't know that he had taken it.

The vehicle had been involved in a motor vehicle accident earlier that day on Interstate 95.

Morales was also wanted by Stamford police on a charge of failure to appear in court in connection with a 2006 arrest involving the driving of a motor vehicle. He was turned over to Stamford police. His initial bail in that case was set at $25,000. No additional bond was set for the Darien case.

Morales, who lives on Strawberry Hill Court in Stamford, was charged by Darien police with possession of narcotics, possession of drug paraphernalia, driving while under the influence and failure to maintain a proper distance between his vehicle and the one in front of him, driving a vehicle while his driver's license was under suspension.