A man was arrested on a DUI charge after state police allege he was caught going the wrong way on Interstate 395 in Plainfield over the weekend with a blood alcohol content of more than three times the legal limit.
Troopers on Saturday shortly before 2 a.m. received multiple 911 calls reporting a wrong-way driver in a white pickup truck on the southbound side of the highway in the area of Exit 28, according to Connecticut State Police.
State police who responded to the area encountered a pair of headlights coming toward them in the area of Exit 29. Two troopers occupying the left and right lanes flipped on their emergency lights to signal the driver to stop.
According to state police, the driver complied and pulled over in the left shoulder. The driver was then identified as 23-year-old Benjamin Benoit of Thompson, state police said.
Troopers allege Benoit was on the phone and showed “clear signs” of impairment, including slurred speech, bloodshot eyes and the smell of alcohol, according to state police. State police said he allegedly had a difficult time “comprehending” that he was on the wrong side of the highway. Troopers also said they found the vehicle was not registered.
Benoit, state police allege, failed field sobriety testing and was taken into custody. He faces charges of illegal operation of a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol or drugs, driving the wrong way on a divided highway, illegal use of a handheld electronic device while operating a motor vehicle and operating/parking an unregistered motor vehicle.
According to state police, chemical testing later allegedly showed that Benoit’s BAC was more than three times the legal limit. He was later released on $500 bond and is scheduled to appear in Danielson Superior Court on Sept. 26.
