On Sunday, August 14th, 2022, at 2:49 am, a Turlock Police officer near the intersection of Fulkerth Rd and N Tully Rd, Turlock, came up on a vehicle with both of its occupants passed out in the middle of the roadway at a traffic light.
While the officer was behind the vehicle, its asleep driver’s foot came off of the brake pedal and the vehicle began rolling westbound and eventually made its way into the eastbound lanes of Fulkerth Rd against traffic. Another officer arrived from the direction the vehicle was headed and put his vehicle in its path, using his push bumper to stop the vehicle.
Both of the vehicle’s occupants, driver Anthony Fuentes, 34, of Modesto, and passenger Philip Fuentes, 31, of San Leandro, woke up, were removed from the vehicle, and detained in handcuffs for further investigation.
The officers had their dispatcher run both subjects and Philip returned with two local misdemeanor warrants for driving with a suspended driver’s license due to a DUI conviction.
The officers then asked Anthony if he would be willing to participate in standardized field sobriety tests. He agreed and completed them.
Ultimately, based on the objective symptoms that Anthony was exhibiting, his performance on the standardized field sobriety tests, the fact that he had just been found passed out behind the wheel of a vehicle, the fact that he had just been found to be in possession of a controlled substance, and the totality of the circumstances, officers determined that he was under the influence of drugs.
Anthony was arrested and transported to a local hospital for a blood draw as required by California’s implied consent law.
Afterwards, Anthony was booked into the Stanislaus County Public Safety Center on charges of driving under the influence of drugs and possession of a controlled substance. He was also issued an administrative driver’s license suspension order by the California Department of Motor Vehicles and his vehicle was impounded.
Philip was also arrested and booked into the Stanislaus County Public Safety Center on his warrants.
