Name:
O’rear, Patrick Joseph
Date of Booking:
07/18/2022
Reason(s) For Booking:
DUI/ALCOHOL/0.08 GMS OR MORE 21 OR OVER
FAILURE TO EXCERCISE DUE CARE
FAILURE TO MAINTAIN LANE
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 July 18, 2022, Troop H Communications Center dispatched me to a single vehicle crash in Tift County. Upon arriving the driver of the vehicle approached me and I began to speak to him. The driver handed me his driver’s license that identified the driver as Patrick O’Rear. While talking to the Mr. O’Rear, I noticed he was swaying, his eyes were blood shot, watery, his speech was slow, slurred, and I could smell the strong odor of an alcoholic beverage on his breath. While talking to Mr. O’Rear, he informed me that he fell asleep which caused him to run off the roadway.
I asked Mr. O’Rear when was the last time he had anything to drink, and he informed me that he drank Vodka 3 days ago. Still smelling the strong odor of an alcoholic beverage on Mr. O’Rear’s breath, I asked him if he would provide me with a PBT (Preliminary Breath Test) sample. After asking Mr. O’Rear for the PBT sample, he informed me that he had been drinking that day. I asked Mr. O’Rear when was the last time he had anything to drink, and he informed me that he last drank at 6 o’clock that morning. I asked Mr. O’Rear what he drank and how much. Mr. O’Rear informed me that he drank one pint of Flash-Point whiskey. While talking to Mr. O’Rear he informed me that he wanted to go to the hospital. I asked Deputy Spradley to request EMS. While waiting on EMS I asked Mr. O’Rear if he would perform field sobriety evaluations to see if he was safe to drive.
Mr. O’Rear agreed. I then positioned Mr. O’Rear for the HGN evaluation and explained the instructions to him. I asked Mr. O’Rear if he understood the instructions for the HGN evaluation, and he stated yes. While checking Mr. O’Rear’s eyes I did not observe resting nystagmus, his pupils were the same size, and his eyes were tracking equally. I had to attempt the HGN evaluation 3 times because Mr. O’Rear would repeatedly move his head, stop following the tip of my finger, or track ahead of the tip of my finger. One the third attempt I was able to observe 4 out of 6 clues despite Mr. O’Rear not following instructions. I did not ask Mr. O’Rear to perform the Walk and Turn and One Leg Stand evaluation due to him repeatedly not following instructions. I asked Mr. O’Rear if he would provide me with a PBT sample, and he agreed. I manually locked in a breath sample at 2 bars. The PBT indicated Mr. O’Rear’s breath was positive for alcohol with a reading of 0.298.
I then placed Mr. O’Rear under arrest for driving under the influence and read him the Georgia Implied Consent Notice for Suspects 21 or Over, requesting blood. Mr. O’Rear agreed at 14:28 hours. Once EMS arrived, I released Mr. O’Rear to the paramedics and they transported him to Southwell Medical Center (Tifton). I completed my crash investigation and released the vehicle Mr. O’Rear was driving to Bailey Towing, then I went to Southwell Medical Center (Tifton) for the blood draw. While at Southwell Medical Center, I asked Mr. O’Rear if he wanted to still provide me with a blood sample, and he refused but started asking me questions about the Implied Consent card. I handed Mr. O’Rear the Georgia Implied Consent card and allowed him to read the Implied Consent Notice for Suspects 21 or Over on his own. Mr. O’Rear handed me the Implied Consent card back and agreed to the blood test again.
While waiting for a someone to draw Mr. O’Rear’s blood, he was being checked by a nurse. Mr. O’Rear then refused to be treated my medical staff and stated several times that he wanted to leave. I asked Mr. O’Rear if he was refusing treatment and he stated yes. I asked Mr. O’Rear if he still wished to provide me with a blood test and he stated, “I’d rather not” at 15:15 hours. I then placed Mr. O’Rear back in hand cuffs and I walked him out of the hospital and assisted him into the rear seat of my patrol vehicle.
While transporting Mr. O’Rear to the Tift County Jail, he became emotional and began yelling. Mr. O’Rear began asking me questions about the Georgia Implied Consent Notice and I informed him that I let me read the card for himself. Mr. O’Rear replied by saying, “I didn’t read that, I was drunk”. Once I arrived at the Tift County Jail, I released Mr. O’Rear to the Tift County Jail Staff.
Note: Recording device was not activated while in the hospital due to device being out of range.
[End of Narrative]