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Crime & Safety

iPhone App "Showed" Woman She's Sober; Gets Charged With DUI

"Novelty" app purports to measure blood alcohol content by blowing onto phone, police say.

A Weston woman who, according to Norwalk Police, said an iPhone app showed she was sober was charged Sunday morning with driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

Police said the woman misunderstood the purpose of the app, and there is no way to test a person's blood alcohol level using an iPhone.

The woman was stopped at 2:05 a.m. for allegedly driving her 1999 Honda in the wrong direction on Haviland Street, which is a one-way street west to east.

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Police spokeswoman Sgt. Lisa Cotto said when the officer approached her and suggested she might be intoxicated, she said that was not possible since she had tested herself before driving.

Cotto said the woman failed a field sobriety test and had her blood alcohol content measured twice at headquarters. The first test measured her blood alcohol content at 0.134 percent, followed by a measurement of 0.120 percent, Cotto said.

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In Connecticut, a motorist is considered driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs when found to have a blood alcohol content greater than 0.08 percent.

Officer Tyrone Boyd, who made the arrest, reported the "novelty" iPhone app the woman was depending on is intended to be used by someone who wants to discourage an intoxicated person from driving. The user punches in an elevated blood alcohol level ahead of time, and later asks the intoxicated person to blow onto the phone to determine if he or she is too drunk to drive.

The user presses a button that causes the previously entered number to display. The woman never entered a number into the app, so it showed 0.00, Cotto said.

Madeline Smith, 23, of 11 High Acre Rd., was charged with operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and driving the wrong way on a one-way street.

Smith was held on $100 bond and given a court date of June 7.

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