At about 2:50 am Saturday morning, the California Highway Patrol was dispatched to a reported vehicle collision with no injuries on South Golden State Boulevard just north of State Route 99, Turlock.
When officers arrived on scene, they found two vehicles involved. One was a Turlock Police Department black and white Ford SUV while the other was a white BMW sedan.
It’s unclear how many occupants each vehicle had, however, no one suffered any injuries. At least one Turlock Police officer was seated in the vehicle when the collision occurred, Officer Andy Khounlivong. The Turlock Police Department was working a weapon offense investigation and had two prisoners in custody at the time, however, it’s unclear at this point whether either of them were seated in the police vehicle that was involved in the collision.
Officers noticed that the driver of the white BMW sedan was exhibiting symptoms of being under the influence, so they asked him to participate in standardized field sobriety tests. The subject refused. Based on the fact that the subject had just been involved in a collision, the symptoms he was exhibiting, the odor of alcohol that was emitting off of him, and the totality of the circumstances, officers determined that he was indeed under the influence of alcohol.
Both vehicles sustained minor damage and were deemed inoperable as a result of the collision, requiring them to be towed away.
Officers began investigating and determined that the white BMW sedan was traveling southbound on South Golden State Boulevard approaching State Route 99 while the police vehicle was stopped on the right shoulder with its rear facing flashers and forward facing steady red light activated. While the white BMW sedan was passing the police vehicle, it collided with its driver door which was open.
The driver of the white BMW sedan, whose identity is currently unknown, was arrested and booked into the Merced County Jail on charges of driving under the influence of alcohol.
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