Hernandez Arrest

At approximately 5:54pm on August 30, 2014 I Officer Salvatore Fusco was on duty and assigned to the East One marked Patrol car when I was dispatched to the front of A.C. Moore which is located at 145 Middlesex Ave. Somerville to meet officers of the Somerville Housing Police who had a car stopped.

Upon my arrival I spoke with Officers George DAmelio and Wayne Gabaree of the housing police who said that they had stopped the suspect vehicle a Silver BMW X5 for suspicion of OUI after it was brought to their attention that the operator appeared intoxicated and due to the vehicle almost striking there unmarked patrol car. Officer D’Amelio said that upon stopping the vehicle they spoke to the operator who appeared to have glassy eyes and was slurring his speech. He also said that there was a bottle of Hennessy on the front passenger seat.

After speaking to the housing Officers I approached the vehicle and spoke to the operator, Jose Hernandez who was sitting in the drivers seat of the vehicle with his shirt rolled halfway up his torso. I told him of the reason that his motor vehicle was stopped and asked him to step out of the vehicle. After he exited the car I asked him if he would be willing to take a test to determine his sobriety and ability to operated a motor vehicle to which he answered Yes.

Prior to administering the tests I then asked Jose Hernandez if he was suffering from diabetes or had any physical injuries which would prevent him from performing the tests to which he replied no.

The first test that I administered was the finger-to-nose test where the subject is required to stand with both feet together, arms outstretched, head tilted back and uses the tip of his index fingers touch’s the tip of his nose while his eyes are closed. After I demonstrated the test to Jose Hernandez he attempted to the test and was unable to touch his nose as he repeatedly touched the bridge of his nose by his eyes and forehead. He was also unable to keep his feet together or keep his arms outstretched.

The second test that I administered was the nine step walk and turn. In this test the subject is required to walk a straight line for nine steps by placing his heel of the front foot to the toe of the back foot as he walls while counting out the steps. At the end of the 9 steps the subject is required to take small steps and repeat the procedure to where he started. Prior to administering the test I demonstrated the test and asked Jose Hernandez if he understood the test to which he replied yes. Upon attempting the test Jose Hernandez was unable to place one foot directly in front of the other and on steps 6 and 8 he was force to take wide steps in order to maintain his balance as he was swaying from side to side. Upon attempting the test Jose Hernandez was unable to lift his foot of the ground without stumbling and after several attempts I stopped the test.

After Jose Hernandez was placed into the prisoner transport wagon I performed an inventory search prior to his vehicle being towed. During the Inventory search I located an empty 200ml bottle of Hennessy Cognac in the driver’s door along with a 375ml bottle which was a quarter full. Along with the two bottles which were in the drivers door compartment there was the 375ml bottle of Hennessy on the passenger seat which was 3/4ths full. All bottles will be placed into evidence locker 5.

During the booking process I administered the field sobriety tests once again. During the finger-to-nose test Jose Hernandez was unable to touch the tip of his nose despite being corrected twice and was unable to keep his arms outstretched. During the nine step walk and turn he was unable to place his heel to toe and was swaying towards the end of the test. Upon attempting the One Leg Stand he said that he was unable to perform the test because his back hurt.

After The field sobriety tests Jose Hernandez answered some routine booking questions and then was fingerprinted. He was fingerprinted by Officers Thomas Gardner and Joe Rivera. Both Officers said that during fingerprinting they had to continuously stop Jose Hernandez from falling over as he was having difficulty standing.