A Massachusetts man faces DUI and other charges after state police found him slumped over the wheel of a pickup truck stopped on Interstate 91 in Middletown over the weekend.
Troopers just before 2:30 a.m. Saturday received the report of a disabled vehicle creating a hazardous situation on I-91 north between the rest area and Exit 20, according to Connecticut State Police.
Responding police found a black GMC Sierra pickup with a Massachusetts license plate parked in the right climbing lane and several damaged traffic cones nearby, state police said. The engine of the vehicle was running and the driver was slumped over the steering wheel.
State police said they tried multiple times to wake the man but he appeared unresponsive. Troopers eventually broke one of the truck’s windows, which woke the man up.
According to state police, the driver resisted when troopers tried to escort him out of the truck and he tried driving away before he was pulled out of the vehicle.
Outside the vehicle and in a travel lane of I-91, state police said the man “remained combative and uncooperative” and created a dangerous situation for everyone involved and the passing motorists. The man was pulled off of the road and into the shoulder where state police said he continued to resist as troopers tried to handcuff him.
The man was eventually subdued and handcuffed when troopers used a taser. Medics then responded to the scene to evaluate the man, who was identified as 24-year-old Sean O’Neill of Wakefield, Massachusetts.
State police said O’Neill declined to be taken to the hospital. During the investigation, troopers reported smelling a “strong odor” of an alcohol coming from O’Neill and they found alcohol containers in plain view in the pickup truck, according to state police.
O’Neill was taken to Troop H in Hartford where he failed multiple field sobriety tests, state police said.
He is charged with two counts of interfering with police and a single count each of improper parking, failure to maintain lane, reckless driving, operating under the influence, second-degree reckless endangerment and fourth-degree criminal mischief.
O’Neill was later released on $20,000 bond and is scheduled to be arraigned in Middletown Superior Court on July 12.
