Crime & Safety

Man Charged with DUI, Stopped Near I-95 Entrance

A man charged with driving while under the influence had been driving erratically, according to police.

A 21-year-old man said he was going from Norwalk and headed back home to Stamford after 3 a.m. Friday, but he was driving toward Norwalk, and not driving well, according to a police report.

He was also driving while under the influence of alcohol, police said.

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

Daniel Oliva of Van Buskirk Ave., Stamford, was driving a2002 Nissan Sentra eastward on West Avenue when a police officer in an unmarked vehicle first saw the Sentra slow in an erratic way, stop 25 feet before an intersection and remain there until the light changed. The officer started following the car onto Mechanic Street.

(This map shows the route, although the beginning and end points are very vague approximations. The officer followed Oliva for roughly a mile, according to the map, based on locations mentioned in the police report.)

On Mechanic Street, the officer saw the car rapidly speed up and slow down, as if the driver were struggling to operate a car with manual transmission. The car continued on Old Kings Highway North, and so did the officer.

The officer saw the car drive past a stop sign without stopping, then make a turn without a turn signal. When the car neared the Exit 12 entrance to Interstate 95 North, the police officer stopped the car.

Oliva, who was driving alone, had glassy eyes. He also had numerous activated glow sticks protruding from his front pocket. He told the officer he was returning from a club party in Norwalk and was on his way to Stamford.

There was a white powder on his lap, and he couldn't provide an explanation for it. He smelled of alcohol.

Oliva made contradictory statements about how much he drank. When he gave police permission to search his vehicle, an officer found an open can of Coca Cola in the center cup holder. A piece of plastic was protruding from the top of the can and inside police found two square plastic baggies, each an inch on a side, floating in a small quantity of cola.

One baggie had a few flecks of a white, powdery substance in it. The other had a greenish residue in it. Both were tested to see if they were drugs -- but none of the tests had a positive result.

Oliva was given field sobriety tests, which he did not pass. He refused to take a urine test. He was charged with driving while under the influence.

Oliva was also charged with failure to use a turn signal when making a turn and failure to obey a stop sign.

He did not make a telephone call to arrange to make bond, so he was initially held on bond (the amount was unspecified in the police report). If he made bond, he was to appear May 12 in state Superior Court in Stamford.


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