State Police – NBC Connecticut

A 25-year-old Rhode Island man faces criminal charges after Connecticut State Police say he drove through a construction zone under the influence of alcohol.

Police said the man was driving westbound on Interstate 84 in Southington on Monday around midnight when he drove an SUV through lanes blocked for construction.

State police said he witnessed the SUV traveling in the right and center lanes, both of which were closed to traffic and where “several construction workers were actively working,” state police said.

In an attempt to stop the SUV, the officer apparently activated his siren several times before the SUV stopped “within a construction site where construction workers were actively working.”

The operator, who state police said was showing visible signs of impairment, informed a trooper during a motor vehicle stop that he had consumed alcoholic beverages prior to driving. The driver then agreed to take a series of field sobriety tests, which state police said he failed.

Connecticut State Police arrested the driver at the scene and charged him with operating under the influence of alcohol in a construction zone, reckless driving in a construction zone, failure to obey an officer’s signal, and four counts of second-degree reckless endangerment.

A man who was released from custody by state police on $500 bail will be arraigned in New Britain Superior Court on July 12.