Crime & Safety

Cops: He Was DUI, Left Front Tire Gone, Airbags Deployed

Police say the 18-year-old was apparently driving the SUV on its left front rim after it struck something.

An 18-year-old man was charged with driving while intoxicated at about 3:30 a.m. one night last week after police found him in his SUV, stopped on a street, with airbags deployed, damage to the front end and a left front tire missing.

According to police, the man said he was waiting for friends to come help him because he thought his car battery had died. 

Darien police gave this account (an accusation not proven in court) of the incident:

Early in the morning of Thursday, Aug. 8, Michael Meehan of Poverty Hollow Road in Redding, stopped his 2010 Chevrolet Equinox on Beach Drive, a street just off the Post Road several blocks from the Stamford border.

When police came to the scene, they noticed minor damage to the front left bumper and fender of the SUV, no front left tire and side (not front) airbags deployed. It appeared that the car had been riding on its left front rim.

An officer speaking with Meehan noticed the odor of alcohol on his breath, and Meehan told police that he had been drinking. He was administered field sobriety tests, which he failed.

Police searched the Post Road to try to find the spot where the SUV had been damaged (and may have damaged something else), but found nothing.

Meehan was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol. He later was released on $250 bond pending an appearance in state Superior Court in Stamford.


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