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An officer from the Scarsdale Police Department was on speed patrol at approximately 2:45 a.m. on Saturday morning when he spotted Scarsdale resident Nagazaki Iturriaga, 34, driving nearly 60 mph on Burgess Road, which has a posted speed limit of 30 mph.
According to police, when attempting to stop Iturriaga for speeding, he swerved from the right lane to the left lane, back into the right lane before striking the curve and stopping with his right side tires on the sidewalk of Post Road.
When approaching the vehicle, the officer said that he detected the odor of alcohol coming from the vehicle, while Iturriaga had alcohol on his breath, glassy, bloodshot eyes and thick-tongued, slurred speech.
“(Iturriaga) was asked to step out of his vehicle and was asked if he had any alcoholic beverages to drink before he got in the car,” a police report states. “He advised me that he had spilled some Bacardi in the car earlier in the day and that he had not been consuming any alcohol.”
Iturriaga proceeded to fail a pair of Standardized Field Sobriety tests, allegedly telling the officer “if you want to arrest me, just arrest me,” the arresting officer stated. After being arrested, Iturriaga proceeded to refuse to provide a breath sample, stating that he wanted to speak to his lawyer. He later refused two more attempts by police to determine his blood alcohol content.
Police said that each time Iturriaga was instructed on how to properly provide the breath sample, and he was observed blowing around the tube, not into it, despite instructions to do otherwise. Further investigation found that there was an open bottle of Ketel One vodka in the backseat, and there was marijuana in a baggie on the driver’s side door.
Iturriaga was arrested and charged with a felony count of operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated with a prior conviction. He was also cited for speeding, and possession of marijuana, both violations. Iturriaga was also charged with having an open container and operating a motor vehicle without insurance, both infractions. Iturriaga is due back in Scarsdale Village Court later this year to answer the charges.
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