BEDFORD – A Bloomington man was detained after a Bedford Police officer stopped his vehicle on Saturday, April 6, after spotting him swerving between his lane of travel.
Officer Nick Crulo was on patrol on State Road 37 near 5th Street when he noticed a driver in a black car swerving. The vehicle was traveling south on State Road 37. The driver then abruptly changed lanes.
The driver swerved across the solid yellow line in the left-hand lane, then across the dotted lane divider, and crossed the solid yellow line again before abruptly changing lanes. After changing lanes, the vehicle proceeded to exhibit the same driving behavior by crossing the white fog line in the right-hand lane, crossing the center lane divider, and crossing over the fog line again.
Officer Crulo initiated a traffic stop at State Road 37 and John Williams Boulevard. The driver stopped just prior to 16th Street.
Officer Crulo said the driver, 38-year-old Donald Branam Jr., smelled of alcohol, had slurred speech and bloodshot eyes, and showed poor dexterity.
He was asked to exit the vehicle. Branam admitted he had been drinking “quite a bit”.
Branam refused to do any field sobriety tests, saying he had a bad leg, but he did do a preliminary breath test. He had a blood-alcohol content of 0.209 percent.
Branam was detained on charges of operating a vehicle while intoxicated, OWI endangerment, and OWI with a blood-alcohol content of O.15 or greater.
