At 9 p.m. on October 4, Oakland County Sheriff’s deputies were alerted of an older model white van, identified as a 1990 Dodge Ram van, traveling northbound on S. Lapeer Road. According to witness statements, the van was driving all over the road, striking construction barrels, and had rear-ended another vehicle and fled the scene.
Deputies located the van at Burdick and Washington streets, where it was traveling the wrong way. Due to M-24 construction, the single lane is for southbound traffic only, yet the driver was headed northbound.
Executing a traffic stop, the driver was identified as a 30-year-old Columbiaville man.
After arguing with deputies about whether he was on the right side of the road, he confirmed he had been drinking and said he was returning from his aunt’s house in Hamtramck, but then changed his mind and said he was coming from Greektown Casino in Detroit.
The man was detained, and, during the search, deputies discovered a knotted clear plastic bag in his left front pants pocket containing a white powdery substance, later confirmed to be heroin.
He failed a series of field sobriety tests and declined to submit to a preliminary breath test (PBT).
Taken to the Oakland County Jail, the man was placed under arrest for operating a vehicle while intoxicated (his fourth offense), leaving the scene of an accident, possession of heroin, driving with a suspended license, and for a felony operating while intoxicated warrant out of Tuscola County.
— Teddy Rydquist