DEERFIELD — A 36-year-old Northfield man was arrested on drunken driving charges for a second offense after police say he fell asleep while parked on the side of Interstate 91.
Michael J. Garraoui was arrested early Saturday morning after State Police troopers responded to I-91 south in Deerfield for a disabled vehicle in the breakdown lane.
According to a report by Trooper Jason Welch, the operator, identified as Garraoui, was unresponsive when troopers tried to wake him up just before 1 a.m.
When he was finally awoken, Welch wrote Garraoui responded to questions in a way that could not be understood and could not tell police why he was parked in the breakdown lane.
According to the report, Garraoui said he had just grabbed a burger in Northampton and was heading to Bernardston, but Welch noted in his report that Garraoui was heading in the wrong direction.
According to the report, Welch detected a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from Garraoui’s breath and Garraoui had extremely bloodshot and glassy eyes and spoke with a thick tongue and slurred speech.
Garraoui refused to answer questions or take a field sobriety test, and was placed under arrest based on the troopers’ observations.
During booking, he failed to blow into a breathalyzer properly after three tries, which gave him a refusal for the test, according to the report.
Garraoui did not post bail and was transported to the Franklin County House of Correction.
He was released on personal recognizance following his arraignment and is due back in court May 5 for a pretrial conference.