A 44-year-old Fenton man convicted of at least twice before for driving while intoxicated was arrested for another DWI following a once-car accident on I-44 in Eureka. No one was seriously injured in the wreck, authorities reported.
The accident happened at about 1:40 a.m. July 20 on westbound I-44 just past the Hwy. 109 exit because. When police arrived on the scene, they found a 2013 Ford Fiesta blocking a lane of traffic and the driver sitting outside the car beside the interstate with a witness to the accident, the report said.
The Fiesta had run off the left side of the interstate and hit a concrete median. Then, the car traveled across all the interstate’s lane and off the right side of the road into a grassy embankment before returning to the right lane of the interstate and stopping, according to the report.
The car was totaled, and the driver appeared intoxicated. He refused medical attention, and we would not take field sobriety tests. He also repeatedly tried to go back to his car to get his cell phone, the report said.
An officer went to the car, which was facing south in the right lane of westbound I-44, to retrieve the phone and reportedly found a bag that contained a green-leafy substance believed to be marijuana, as well as three smoking pipes that appeared to have marijuana residue on them. Office also allegedly found a grinder with traces of a green-leafy substance and a cigarette holder like those commonly used to hold marijuana, according to the report.
The driver allegedly admitted that the marijuana and drug paraphernalia were his, and he also allegedly said he had drunk a few beers. The man was arrested and taken to the Police Station, where police learned he had been convicted of previous DWIs, the report said.
Eureka Police will seek a DWI - persistent offender charge against the man through the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office and issued him a summonses to appear in Eureka Municipal Court for alleged possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia, Lt. Michael Werges said.