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State v. Beckwith9/21/1987
RIGGS, J.
This is an accelerated calendar case involving an appeal from the judgment of the Painesville Municipal Court, finding appellant guilty of driving under the influence of alcohol and of driving with a concentration of greater than .10 of one gram of alcohol per two hundred ten liters of breath.
On April 19, 1986, defendansappellant George Beckwith was driving a brown, 1982 Chevette when he was stopped in Madison Township by Officer Michael Torok of the Madison Township Police Department at approximately 1:00 a.m. Officer Torok had clocked appellant travelling in Madison Township at a speed of sixty-five miles per hour in a forty-five-mile-per-hour zone.
Officer Torok believed that appellant was unfit to drive a motor vehicle because he had had too much to drink. Officer Torok did not arrest appellant at that time, but rather told appellant to park his car and made arrangements through his dispatcher to have appellant's neighbor pick him up. Officer Torok received a call approximately fifteen to twenty minutes later, from his department's dispatcher, informing him that the neighbor could not locate appellant.
At approximately 2:15 a.m., while he was travelling westbound on U.S. Route 20 in Madison Township, Officer Torok observed, through his rearview mirror, an automobile approaching at a high rate of speed. Officer Torok pulled off to the side of the road and let the vehicle pass him. Officer Torok recognized that the vehicle was appellant's from the license plate and began to follow the vehicle. Officer Torok testified that he observed the vehicle weaving and straddling the two westbound lanes of the four-lane road.
Officer Torok testified that he followed appellant for approximately one mile before he turned on his overhead lights, then followed him for approximately another two miles before turning on his siren as well. Officer Torok eventually stopped appellant at Parmly Road and U.S. Route 20 in Perry Township.
On cross-examination, Officer Torok testified that he had pulled off the side of the road in the driveway of Sahara Mobile Homes Park to allow appellant's vehicle to pass him. This location is approximately three fourths of a mile east of the Madison Township-Perry Township line. At somewhere near the Perry Township line, Officer Torok activated his overhead lights to pull over appellant. Officer Torok then stated that he followed appellant for approximately one and one-quarter miles past Townline Road - the jurisdictional line of Madison and Perry Townships - and that he did not activate his siren.
Officer Torok detected an odor of alcohol about appellant, but did not have appellant perform field sobriety tests. Officer Torok transported appellant to the Madison Township Police Department for a breath test.
Appellant was cited for operating a motor vehicle with a concentration of greater than .10 of one gram of alcohol per two hundred ten liters of breath; operating a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol; and failing to drive in marked lanes.
On June 20, 1986, a jury trial was had, and appellant was found guilty of the first two offenses. The Painesville Municipal Court ordered that appellant's driving privileges be suspended for six months, and also ordered appellant to spend sixty days in jail and pay a $300 fine.
On July 18, 1986, appellant filed a timely notice of appeal. Appellant has filed the following assignment of error:
"The trial court erred in overruling defendant's motion to dismiss and/or suppress based on appellant's illegal arrest."
Appellant argues that because Officer Torok ar
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