By Jim Clark

Police officers were dispatched to a Lowell St. location last Saturday evening on reports of a non-responsive man inside a motor vehicle that was blocking a driveway.

Upon arrival, the officers observed a man, later identified as Moises Reyes, in the driver’s seat of a car. Reyes was wearing sunglasses and appeared to be asleep. The car was running and had been running long enough for the engine’s heat to radiate to the car’s hood. According to reports, the hood was much warmer than the other surfaces of the car.

An officer tapped on the driver’s window to get the Reyes’ attention, but he reportedly did not respond. The driver’s door was unlocked, so an officer opened it, causing Reyes to stir and then attempted to get out of the car.

Reyes was told to stay in the car and turn off the engine. He continued his attempts to get out, but the officers pushed on the door to prevent him from exiting the vehicle.

The officers told him to turn off the engine once again. Reyes reportedly reached for the ignition keys and fumbled a bit, but eventually was successful in turning off the engine.

Reyes was told to remove the keys and put them on the dashboard, after which he removed the keys but put them on the passenger’s side car seat.

The officers told Reyes again to put the car keys on the dashboard, and he picked up the keys and then put them back down on the passenger’s side car seat, as before.

The third time Reyes was asked, he picked up the keys again and just held them in the air. The officers took the keys from him and placed them on the hood of the car.

During this brief interchange, one of the officers noticed two open beer cans in the beverage holders located between the front car seats and a partial case of beer on the floor of the front passenger’s seat. Both of the beer cans reportedly contained a small amount of beer, which were later emptied and discarded.

When the officers asked Reyes for his driver’s license, he removed his glasses and told them that he did not have a license. With his sunglasses removed, the officers reportedly observed his eyes to be glassy, and after he began to speak they detected the smell of alcohol and noticed that his speech was slurred.

These signs along with his uncoordinated movements and failure to follow their instructions led the officers to believe that Reyes was under the influence of alcohol.

Reyes eventually provided the officers with his passport, which showed his name to be Moises Aguilar Reyes of El Salvador.

Reyes was subsequently placed under arrest on charges of operation of a motor vehicle under the influence of liquor, unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, and alcohol from open container.

The officers did not ask Reyes to complete a roadside assessment because there was a language barrier and because he appeared so too incapacitated to perform it. The officers did not want to take a chance of him hurting himself or an officer by falling. Reyes did agree to take the blood alcohol test during the booking process. The results showed a blood alcohol level of .13%.

The car that Reyes was operating was towed incident to arrest and because it was blocking a driveway.