ST. CROIX — Offline instruments at two St. Croix police stations prevented officers from administering a chemical test to a DUI suspect who failed all three field sobriety tests and admitted to drinking wine and crashing into another vehicle on Sunday, according to court documents.
Paul O’Neill admitted to crashing his Ford Fiesta into the rear of a Chevy Silverado while traveling west on Melvin H. Evans Highway near the former Good Hope School, stating that he did not see the pickup truck, according to a probable cause fact sheet submitted by arresting officer Mark Jones.
Jones and his partner, officer Jareema Perdereaux I, were dispatched to the scene of the accident at about 5:51 a.m. Sunday. Jones noted in his report that he detected a strong odor of alcohol on O’Neill’s breath. O’Neill also admitted to drinking “some glasses of wine.”
After failing all three field sobriety tests, O’Neill was arrested and charged with driving under the influence of an intoxicating liquor and negligent driving. He was offered a chemical test to determine the alcohol content of his breath. Jones, however, indicated that the Intox EC/IR-II instruments used to determine alcohol content were not working Sunday morning at either the Wilbur H. Francis Command in Frederiksted or the Ancilmo D. Marshall Command in Christiansted.
Sergeant Arthur Joseph Sr., commander of the Traffic Investigation Bureau, said the instruments — St. Croix’s only two — are routinely serviced.
“I can’t tell you why it wasn’t working,” he said.
Joseph said both instruments were serviced following Sunday’s incident and that the one at the police station in Christiansted is now working. Power surges, he explained, can knock them offline, requiring a reset. He said he asked the Virgin Islands Police Department to provide surge protectors to prevent future outages.
“More than likely that is what threw the instrument out,” he said, stressing the importance of a regular maintenance schedule.
Joseph said work is ongoing on the instrument at the police station in Frederiksted.
“We have to do a deeper dive into that one,” he said.
Joseph clarified officers can arrest DUI suspects who fail the field sobriety tests even if a chemical breath test is not administered.
Superior Court Judge Yolan Brow Ross found probable cause during a hearing on Monday to charge O’Neill with DUI and negligent driving. He was released on bail. His arraignment is set for July 30.
