On Jan. 16, Woonsocket Police Officers Patrick McGourty and Matthew Labine spotted a blue Nissan on Cumberland Street near Hamlet Avenue operating without taillights or headlights.
The officers pulled the driver, Phyllis A. Taylor, 50 of 736 Social St., Apt. 1F, over, eventually charging her with driving under the influence of drugs, according to officers' reports.
When the car stopped in a driveway on Cumberland Hill Road, the passenger, later identified as Michael Perreault, quickly got out of the car, according to McGourty's report. McGourty told him to stay put, which he did, and a check on him revealed an outstanding Sixth District Court warrant for failing to appear in court. McGourty arrested him and secured him in the cruiser without incident, according to the report.
When Taylor stepped out of the vehicle to submit to a pat-down, Labine noticed her eyes were bloodshot and watery, and that she was stumbling. She consented to a sobriety test, missing heel-to-toe and stepping off the line during the walk and turn, putting her foot down during the one-leg stand and failing to touch her own nose. McGourty administered a blood alcohol test, which turned up negative for alcohol.
McGourty arrested Taylor, charging her with driving under the influence of drugs. She consented to a blood sample at Landmark Medical Center, where officer Jason Berthelette evaluated her, writing in his report that she seemed under the influence of a stimulant, a depressant and marijuana.
According to Berthelette's report, Taylor said she was taking Gabapentin to aid with pain from a back injury, high blood pressure and anxiety, and that she regularly takes methadone.
Taylor was charged with DUI, blood alcohol content unknown, and citied for operating without lights at the proper time.
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
