Name:
Godwin, David Wayne, Jr.
Date of Booking:
08/24/2022
Reason(s) For Booking:
FAILURE TO EXERCISE DUE CARE
FOLLOWING TOO CLOSE
DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF ALCOHOL, DRUGS, OR OTHER INTOXICATING SUBSTANCES
Officer’s Narrative:
[Please note: The following is a direct transcription from the officer’s narrative report. We do not fix any spelling or grammatical errors. Any changes made by our staff are placed inside brackets. Some errors may exist.]
On August 24, 2022 at 18:06 I was dispatched to a crash on Georgia State Route 27 and its intersection with Glyndale Drive. The incident occurred inside of my agency’s established jurisdiction in Glynn County, Georgia.
I was operating a Dodge Charger that was blue and gray in color, displaying my badge of office on both sides of the patrol car in orange lettering. I was wearing a uniform issued to me by the Georgia State Patrol that displayed my badge of office on the left side of my chest and a nametag that identified me as Trooper Beck on the right. I was actively recording on a WatchGuard 4RE Dash Camera installed in my patrol car and wearing a body microphone that was synchronized with the dash camera on my right shoulder.
Upon arrival I made contact with officers with the Glynn County Police Department. They had retrieved some information from involved parties. I observed three vehicles in the left lane on Georgia State Route 27 headed south. They were all stopped and appeared to have damage.
I noticed a white male standing outside of a red Toyota Tundra. I made contact with the other drivers and completed my crash investigation which can be found under Georgia State Patrol Crash report C000843173. The conclusion of my crash investigation put the red Toyota Tundra at fault. I began speaking with the at fault driver about the crash.
The driver of the red Toyota Tundra was a white male who identified himself with his Georgia driver’s license as Mr. David Godwin Jr. Mr. Godwin advised me that he was looking at his phone when the crash occurred. I could detect an door of an alcoholic beverage emitting from his breath, bloodshot watery eyes and slurred speech.
I asked Mr. Godwin when he had consumed alcoholic beverages last, and he told me that he had a beer the day prior at about 8PM. I had him relocate to the front of my patrol car with intentions of running him through Standardized Field Sobriety Tests.
I ran Mr. Godwin’s information through my laptop in my patrol car through GCIC/NCIC and it came back active and valid through Georgia. I walked back out of my patrol car to continue speaking with Mr. Godwin. I asked Mr. Godwin relevant medical questions related to the administration of Standardized Field Sobriety Testing.
Mr. Godwin told me that he wore contacts but otherwise did not have any medical questions that would prohibit him from being ran through Standardized Field Sobriety Testing. We did not have adequate space to conduct the Walk and Turn field sobriety test or the One Leg Stand field sobriety test so I elected to just run him through the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus field sobriety test.
I utilized my right index finger, observed that Mr. Godwin had blue eyes. During the test, I observed six out of six possible clues for the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus field sobriety test. This was an indicator to me that Mr. Godwin was under the influence of alcohol.
I intended to have Mr. Godwin provide a breath sample for the PBT but prior to that I wanted to ensure that he had not drank anything or eaten any food within the past 20 minutes. When I asked Mr. Godwin this question, he indicated that he lied to me and actually had had drank some liquor that same day. He agreed to provide a sample for the PBT and when he did it tested positive for the presence of alcoholic beverage.
Based on; the less safe act of following too closely and distracted driving resulting in a crash, the bloodshot watery eyes, the slurred speech, the odor of an alcoholic beverage emitting from his breath, the results from the PBT and his own admission to consuming alcoholic beverages prior to operating his motor vehicle, I placed Mr. Godwin under arrest for DUI Alcohol/Less Safe. I read Mr. Godwin the green Georgia Implied Consent Notice for suspects ages 21 or over for blood. Mr. Godwin agreed to have a state administered chemical test of his blood.
I waited briefly for J and M Towing to arrive to tow Mr. Godwin’s vehicle and another vehicle involved in the crash that had requested J and M Towing. They arrived on scene and took custody of both vehicles. I transported Mr. Godwin to the Southeast Georgia Health System-Brunswick Campus for a legal blood draw and a jail clearance.
Upon arrival, they cleared him for incarceration and phlebotomist [REDACTED] drew Mr. Godwin’s blood at 19:58 with a sealed GBI Blood Toxicology Kit. I secured the kit in my patrol to be turned into Post 23-Brunswick.
I transported Mr. Godwin to the Glynn County Sheriff’s Office where I turned him over to jail staff without incident. I charged Mr. Godwin with DUI Alcohol/Less Safe, Distracted Driving and Following too closely.
[End Of Narrative]