After a caller told a dispatcher a man had fallen down several times while walking then was getting into his truck to drive, a Bloomfield officer responded. The driver was arrested and appeared in court yesterday, Monday, March 4.

Patrick Jerome Gilliland, 61, Freedom, was arrested by Deputy Marshal Wayman JR Blazier of the Bloomfield Police Department late Saturday night, February 23.

Blazier was on duty when Greene County Dispatch informed him a man that had just left the Spot Lounge had fallen to the ground several times while walking to his truck, and was now attempting to leave driving the truck.

Blazier located the truck and followed it, watching as the truck twice drove off the right side of the roadway and hit the curb. And the license plate lights were not operable. A traffic stop was initiated in the area of West Main Street and the Dairy Queen.

Gilliland was identified as the driver. Blazier reported Gilliland showed numerous signs of impairment, and he failed a couple of standard field sobriety tests on the scene – others were stopped or not conducted out of a safety concern.

Gilliland was transported to the Greene County Sheriff’s Department where sobriety tests ended with the same result.

Blazier, a certified breath test operator, conducted a breath test and reported results showed Gilliland had a blood alcohol concentration of .243. The legal limit is .08.

Gilliland was arrested and booked in. His bond was set at $4,000 surety with ten percent cash allowed. He posted $400 cash to bond out the next day.

Gilliland then appeared in Greene Superior Court yesterday, Monday, March 4, for an initial hearing. Deputy Public Defender Tim Shonk was appointed to represent him and he was formally charged with:

Operating a vehicle while intoxicated endangering a person, a Class A misdemeanor,
Operating a vehicle while intoxicated, a Class C misdemeanor, and
Operating a vehicle with an alcohol concentration equivalent to .15 or more, a Class A misdemeanor.