Leobardo Merino

Name:
Merino, Leobardo Manzano

Date of Booking:
10/2/2021

Reason(s) For Booking:
FAILURE TO MAINTAIN LANE

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.]

On 020CT2021 I was driving north on GA HWY 27 near Wages Rd when I observed a GRY Toyota Tercel NC/ [REDACTED] that was stopped in the right hand lane with the hazard lights on. As I got closer the vehicle drove away so I followed closely behind to make sure everything was ok and no one needed assistance.

A few hundred feet down the road the vehicle left the roadway hitting the concrete curbing and bounced back into the lane. The vehicle left the lane of travel two more times and I feared that the driver was impaired so I conducted a traffic stop at 4938 New Jesup Hwy.

When I approached the vehicle I made contact with the driver, Leobardo Merino, and advised him that I stopped him for failure to maintain lane. As I was speaking to Mr. Merino I could smell the odor of alcohol and noticed his eyes were very red and glassy. I asked if he had consumed any alcoholic beverages and he said no at that time. I went back to my patrol car to run his information while Ofc. Nichols #144 attempted to do a standard field sobriety test.

While I was still in my vehicle Ofc. Nichols notified me that Mr. Merino had urinated on himself, admitted to consuming alcohol, and was too impaired to follow his directions. Ofc. Nichols notified me a few minutes later that he conducted a preliminary test with his department issued Alco sensor and the result of his blood alcohol content was .217, which is almost 2 1/2 times the legal limit.

I notified Mr. Merino that he was under arrest for driving under the influence of alcohol and failure to maintain lane at that time. He was placed in double locked handcuffs the read the state of Georgia implied consent and asked for a sample of his blood to which he agreed.

After we worked with Mr. Merino to have his vehicle picked up by a family member I transported him to the jail for a clearance and blood draw. While at the hospital the specimen was collected by [REDACTED] at or around 0339 hrs and short while later Mr. Merino was cleared for jail. once we arrived at the jail, I completed the ABIS and he was turned over to the jail staff without incident.

The consent for forensic testing and ABIS were uploaded to evidence.com and placed in the records basket. The blood alcohol/ toxicology kit was turned in to evidence to be sent off for testing and the results of that test are pending at this time. Nothing Follows.