News Update, May 13

A Crestview Police officer was called to the Quality Inn in Crestview and found a man in a white van attempting to park.

The officer watched the man move forward and backward while the van made a grinding noise. He approached the van and asked the man inside if he’d called the police. The man said he had not.

According to a police department incident report, a woman approached the officer and said, “You need to stop him. Don’t let him leave. He’s going to kill somebody.” The woman said the man was drunk and shouldn’t be driving.

The woman went on to say the man had hit her twice and pushed a plate of food in her face. She said he was cursing and came at her again until he heard her speaking with the police.

The police officer noted the man’s clothes were “soiled” and his eyes were bloodshot and watery. During a field sobriety test the man couldn’t perform one of the tasks and said, “Take me to jail.” He later said he couldn’t perform a breath test because he was dizzy and would pass out.

When the police officer asked what direction he was traveling in the van, the man answered, “Back and forth.” When asked where he started from, he said, “point A to point B.” The man knew he was in Crestview, but said “I haven’t the faintest idea” what county he was in.

The man was arrested for striking the victim in the face, operating a motor vehicle while under the influence and operating a motor vehicle with an expired license.