A man whose Jeep left the road and crashed into a tree shortly before 6 p.m. on Friday was charged by New Canaan police with driving under the influence.
Police gave this account (an accusation not proven in court) of the incident:
At 5:55 p.m someone called New Canaan police to report the accident on Smith Ridge Road near its intersection with Michigan Road.
Arriving at the scen, police saw the Jeep, headed south, had driven off the right side of the road, down an embankment and into a tree.
There was heavy front-end damage to the Jeep, and two airbags had deployed. The driver had no major injuries.
An officer could smell alcohol on the breath of the driver, Jose Mejia, 39, of Spring Street in Ossining, NY. Mejia was given field sobriety tests and didn't pass them.
A witness told police Mejia cut her off as he headed south on Smith Ridge Road and was swerving, both in the right lane and beyond it, until eventually he swerved right off the road and into the tree.
Mejia was charged with operating under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs, failure to drive within the right lane and with driving without a license. His bond was set at $250, and he is scheduled to appear May 20 in state Superior Court in Norwalk.
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