Orangetown Police Officers were dispatched to a stretch of North Middletown Road at approximately 12:45 a.m. on Sunday, June 16, when a passerby reported a man who was slumped over the wheel of the car in a parking lot with the engine still on.
Police said that responding officers found Pearl River resident Merrick Rhodes, 53, asleep behind the wheel of a 2005 Ford Taurus with the driver’s door open and the engine still running. It was further determined that Rhodes was operating the vehicle while intoxicated.
Rhodes was arrested and transported to Orangetown Police Headquarters, where he refused to submit to a breathalyzer. Rhodes was subsequently charged with driving while intoxicated, a misdemeanor, and released. Rhodes is scheduled to respond to the charges in Orangetown Justice Court on July 10.
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