GreeneStreets

View Original

Driver found asleep at the wheel last year was taken into custody this morning

After blood tests came back, a warrant was issued almost a year ago for a driver who had been found slumped over the steering wheel at a stop sign. It’s remained outstanding until early this morning when he was taken into custody to face charges.

Michael Roy McQuillen

Michael Roy McQuillen, 47, Linton, was arrested by Sgt. Jordan Allor of the Greene County Sheriff’s Department early this morning, Monday, June 7, on a warrant issued in an investigation by GCSD Deputy Harvey Holt into an incident that occurred in March of 2020.

Around 1:50 p.m. on March 25, 2020, Deputy Holt responded after the sheriff’s department got a call about a maroon passenger car that was stopped at a stop sign at the intersection of State Road 59 and County Road 700 North. The caller said he thought the driver was asleep.

As Deputy Holt was pulling up to the scene, he saw a man getting out of the vehicle on the passenger side, getting into a small truck, and driving away.

When Deputy Holt approached the vehicle, a 2006 Chevrolet Malibu, he found a man in the driver’s seat was slumped over the steering wheel.

Deputy Holt said he tried to wake the driver for five minutes but could not get him to move or respond. An ambulance was called and Deputy Holt made entry into the vehicle and finally got the driver to wake up.

The driver, identified as Michael Roy McQuillen, seemed confused and disoriented. Deputy Holt detected the odor of an alcoholic beverage.

When McQuillen got out of the vehicle, he allegedly was staggering, had to lean against the vehicle to maintain his balance, was pale and slurring his speech.

McQuillen allegedly could not follow instructions for field sobriety testing. McQuillen was cleared by ambulance personnel but they said he’d been drinking and believed he had taken extra Xanax that day.

Deputy Holt reported McQuillen’s driver’s license was suspended and that McQuillen admitted he knew his license was suspended for being an habitual traffic offender.

A blood draw was taken. When results returned, they showed he had a blood alcohol content of .04 and that he had alprazolam in his system.

A criminal case was filed against McQuillen in late June of 2020 and a warrant was issued for his arrest. The warrant has remained outstanding until he was taken into custody this morning.

McQuillen was booked in at 12:23 a.m. His bond was set at $8,000 surety with ten percent cash allowed. He has since posted bond and been released.

McQuillen is facing preliminary charges of:

  • Operating a vehicle after being an habitual traffic offender, a Level 6 felony, and

  • Operating a vehicle while intoxicated, a Class C misdemeanor.