Man arrested for 3rd DUI after he parked car on Woodward
FERNDALE, Mich. (WJBK) - A 52-year-old Detroit man is facing his third drunken driving charge after Ferndale police say he parked and left his car on Woodward Avenue.
Just before midnight on December 19, an officer witnessed Joe Mauricio stop his Ford Flex in the fast lane on northbound Woodward, put it in park and walk away. The officer went to the vehicle and found Mauricio's girlfriend intoxicated in the passenger seat.
The officer then moved and parked the car on nearby Cambourne Street, which is just a few blocks north of Nine Mile Road.
Ferndale police say that's when Mauricio came back and handed the officer his driver's license. The officer says Mauricio says he was drinking on a party bus and at a bar nearby, and then he got into a fight with his girlfriend in the car and didn't want to fight anymore so that's why he parked the car and got out.
The officer says Mauricio then failed a field sobriety test, and couldn't remember how much he had drank. He was taken to the police station and had a BAC of 0.18%. It is illegal in Michigan to drive with a BAC greater than .08%.
He has two previous DUIs in Allen Park and Livonia. Mauricio faces five years in prison if he's convicted of this third DUI.