Police responded to the accident on Ponus Avenue and learned that the driver, identified as 29-year-old Jose Benitez of Bridgeport, had lost control of his car and swerved before crashing into a large rock, the Hour reported. Benitez was stumbling around and slurring his words, and did not cooperate with officers when they asked for his license and registration, according to the Hour.
Benitez tried to pull free when officers patted him down, and slapped his phone out of an officer's hand when the officer was looking at it, the Hour reported. He was placed under arrest, and when police searched his car for signs of identification, they found a kitchen knife with a 7.5 inch blade, according to the Hour.
Police also found 10 full bottles of beer, three empty ones and a small bottle of brandy, according to the Hour. When Benitez saw them taking items out of his car, the began banging his head against a police cruiser door and called the arresting officer a racial slur, the Hour reported.
He continued to rant and curse while at headquarters, and refused to take a breathalyzer or be fingerprinted, according to the Hour. Police were eventually able to learn his identity, and discovered that his license was permanently suspended, the Hour reported.
He was charged with carrying a dangerous weapon, weapons in a motor vehicle, resisting arrest, operating under the influence, operating under suspension, failure to be fingerprinted, evasion of responsibility, failure to drive in the proper lane, and failure to carry a registration or insurance card, according to the Hour. He was later taken to Bridgeport, where he was wanted on a warrant for first-degree criminal mischief and second-degree breach of peace, the Hour reported.
Click here to read the Hour story.
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