Police Lodge Two DUI Charges At Sobriety Checkpoint

By ANDY GOROSKO

Published: Dec 26, 2003 12:00 am

By Andrew Gorosko

At a Hawleyville sobriety checkpoint held on the night of December 19 and early morning hours of December 20, police stopped an estimated 900 passing motorists, charging two men with drunken driving.

Eight police officers and one supervisor participated in the checkpoint, which was staged on the section of Hawleyville Road near its intersection with Covered Bridge Road. Police have often conducted checkpoints in that spot near Exit 9 of Interstate 84.

The checkpoint ran from 7 pm Friday, December 19, to 2:30 am Saturday, December 20.

Police report that at about 10:51 pm December 19, they stopped motorist Francis J. Wheelahan IV, 24, of Waterbury at the checkpoint and conducted field sobriety testing on him. Police said that Wheelahan failed those tests and was charged with driving under the influence.

Police transported Wheelahan to the police station for processing, after which they released him on a $100 bond for a January 5 arraignment in Danbury Superior Court.

At about 12:59 am December 20, on seeing that police were conducting a sobriety checkpoint, motorist John Julian, 40, of Waterbury, stopped and attempted to turn around to avoid the checkpoint, police said.

Police said they stopped Julian on Mt Pleasant Road and gave him field sobriety tests, which he failed. Police charged Julian with driving under the influence and with making a restricted turn.

After processing the charges against Julian, police released him on a $40 bond for a January 7 appearance in Danbury Superior Court.

Besides the two drunken driving arrests, police charged two motorists with driving unregistered motor vehicles. The vehicles were towed away from the checkpoint.

Also, police issued seven written warnings and 14 verbal warnings to motorists for a variety of motor vehicles offenses.

Police stage such checkpoints to apprehend motorists who are driving under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs. Every vehicle traveling in both directions past such a checkpoint is stopped by police. Police conduct brief interviews with each driver. Through such interviews police gauge whether drivers have been drinking alcohol or using drugs. Sobriety tests are performed on people suspected of intoxication.

Besides the December 19â20 sobriety checkpoint, police are running extra roving patrols on selected dates through the end of this month designed to spot drunken drivers and get them off local roads. Such extra patrols will be on the road on New Yearâs Eve.

A grant provided by the state Department of Transportation will cover approximately 70 percent of the estimated $12,700 in overtime that police will receive for heightened DUI enforcement conducted between Thanksgiving and New Yearâs Day.

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My darling, You were the best GRANDmother a child could ask for. You created so many great memories & traditions that I have passed down to your Great grandchildren. You brought joy into every room you stepped into. Your laughter, singing, whistling and the signature Rockettes high kicks, is something I will always hold in my heart. There was something about walking into your home and being greeted by your beautiful face. *kiss on each check* followed by HELLOOOOOO Darling! The classical music playing softly in the background and your love and comfort made your home, a safe space. Somewhere, where love knew no boundaries. It was so much more than a home. I aim for the same in my home, and play the classic music 24/7, but it will never be the same. I pray I can be 1/4 of GRAND, you put in GRANDmother. You were so resilient. You found the positive in every situation. I look up to you so much. I remember begging Mom and Dad for years to change my name to “Carmen”. They didn’t officially change my name, but eventually started calling me “Carmenita” as I am a little you. THE HONOR. You were there for me, no matter the day or hour. You were always the one who would talk me through whatever hard situation I was going through. When my baby passed away, I refused to talk to anyone for 3 weeks. Except for you. You said to me “Better days are coming, babes. There’s always a rainbow after the storm”. Of course, you were right, because you are GRAND. I picture you in heaven dancing and laughing with him. Uncle Jay playing the money game with him. To know you are with your children again & with mine does bring me some joy. Twas the night before Christmas & New Year’s Eve, will never be the same. Another tradition you created. A memory that will last forever. Not just with me, but for generations to come. It may not be the same, but we won’t let it die. It will live on, in your name. To be your first GRANDchild was a blessing. I could write an entire book about you & all the amazing things about you. Even though we were robbed of time together & it makes me angry, I know I will see you again. This isn’t a goodbye, but a “see you later”. Just like we ended every phone call. Ciao, darling. I love you. MWAH MWAH! Love your GRANDchild, Kimberly aka Carmenita

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Unfortunately, I think this is likely to get worse, not better... Based on both public comments and private conversations, I’m increasingly concerned that our newly elected First Selectman intends not just to install these cameras, but to expand their use for full-blown enforcement and fines. Try getting a straight answer out of him about the long-term plan and you quickly realize how vague the responses become. Tyler is absolutely right to raise the privacy issue. These systems don’t just “catch speeders” — they quietly build a database of where we drive, when we drive, and who is in our vehicles. Once that infrastructure is in place, it becomes very easy to justify expanding its scope: more cameras, more locations, more uses, and eventually more automated enforcement. If Newtown is going down this road, residents deserve clear, written answers to some basic questions before anything is expanded: What limits will be placed on how and where cameras are used? Will footage and plate data be used only for speed enforcement, or for other investigations too? How long will data be stored, and who can access it? What safeguards will prevent vendors and individuals from abusing this information? Without firm, enforceable rules in place, “just a few cameras to slow traffic” can turn into something very different over time. I support safe roads — but not at the cost of unchecked surveillance and vague promises from our leaders. You try getting straight answers out of our First Selectman, myself and others have not been able to...

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Real people were just in a frightening car accident. To immediately frame their misfortune as rhetorical ammunition against new housing — affordable housing included — feels less like concern for “health and safety” and more like opportunistically using a scary moment to support a pre-existing position. If we’re going to debate this proposal, we should do it honestly: with data on traffic volume, accident history, engineering recommendations, and the town’s housing needs, not by seizing on a single crash as proof that 300 apartments are inherently unsafe. Newtown deserves a thoughtful, fact-based conversation about growth, safety, and affordability — one that doesn’t turn other people’s bad day into a political talking point.

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To add context that did not occur at the meeting would not be an accurate representation of the meeting and would, in fact, be editorializing to shape public opinion. The editorial staff here do not consider ourselves to be final arbiters of what the truth is (and if we did, it would make us partisan and biased), and we would need to provide a source for any dissenting information (sourcing all information in an article is literally Journalism 101). There were no such sources present at the meeting in question, and so it would not be appropriate to include such information in an article about the meeting. Dissenting voices appear in meeting stories when there were active participants with dissenting opinions, such as during public participation or the words of a council member who disagreed. It should be noted that the Interfaith Council, like many local boards and commissions, conduct meetings that are open to the public. This was not an article on the actions of the Greater Danbury Area Unites for Immigrants, or on immigrants, or on ICE's actions in the community, where including other voices or perspectives would be appropriate. We appreciate your opinion, but we stand by our meeting coverage and consider this discussion closed.

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Police Lodge Two DUI Charges At Sobriety Checkpoint

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