Officers from the Bellefontaine Police Department observed a vehicle back out of a parking space in the 100 block of West Columbus Avenue with no headlights Sunday morning around 2:40.
The vehicle was originally facing westbound and when it backed out of the parking space, it turned around to face eastbound even though it was in the westbound lane. It then began revving the engine at a high RPM but was not moving.
Suddenly, the vehicle jerked forward and the tires squealed. The vehicle quickly accelerated while traveling eastbound in the westbound lane.
Then, as the driver approached the stop light on West Columbus Avenue at Main Street, the vehicle made a sudden, jerking steering correction to get into the eastbound lane and continue eastbound on East Columbus Avenue.
A traffic stop was initiated.
Siaosi Tupa, 24, was identified.
Tupa stated he just left the bar. Officers noticed Tupa’s eyes to have been bloodshot and glossy, and they smelled the odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from his breath. When asked how much he had to drink, he stated he had seven beers.
He agreed to perform field sobriety tests and failed.
Tupa was placed under arrest for OVI and was transported to the Bellefontaine Police Department. He agreed to a breath test which yielded a BAC of 0.159, just under two times the legal limit.
Tupa was transported to the Logan County Jail and lodged. He was charged with OVI, OVI (breath test 0.08-0.169), no operator’s license, no headlights, marked lanes, and squealing tires.