A 21-year-old Parma man was arrested after police say he drove drunk with a loaded 9 mm handgun in his waistband and crashed his Nissan Sentra through a construction zone on Eastland Road near First Avenue in Middleburg Heights. The pistol reportedly slid from his waistband down to near his shin during the crash, and his cousin, a 23-year-old Olmsted Falls man riding in the passenger seat, was taken to Southwest General Health Center on Bagley Road with injuries of unknown extent.
According to Cleveland.com, the Sentra ran over traffic cones blocking the construction area before crashing, and officers later found an arrow board meant to direct traffic away from the work zone lying on the ground. Police arrested the driver based on the crash itself and visible signs of intoxication, the outlet reports.
Officers reportedly observed the driver struggling to keep his balance, smelling of alcohol, and speaking with slurred words, with bloodshot and glassy eyes. Per the same report, the man and his cousin had been drinking earlier at a bar before the crash. He told police the pistol had been in his waistband, and officers confiscated the loaded firearm, the article notes.
Refusal Adds to License Trouble
The driver refused to perform field sobriety tests at the scene, according to the report. That refusal carries its own consequences under Ohio’s implied consent law: under Ohio Revised Code Section 4511.191, declining a post-arrest chemical test triggers an automatic one-year administrative license suspension for a first offense, including a mandatory 30-day hard suspension during which courts cannot grant limited driving privileges…