Two men with blood alcohol levels that were more than twice the legal limit were arrested by Michigan State Police troopers in Washtenaw County on Friday night.
In one case, a driver vomited in a gas station parking lot before getting behind the wheel and attempting to get back on the freeway, police said.
In the first incident, police say they received several 911 calls about an erratic driver on northbound US-23 from Willis Road in York Township. Troopers took positions to intercept the vehicle, then learned it was at the Shell gas station at Michigan and I-94, according to a news release.
A caller said the driver was vomiting in the parking lot of the gas station, and when troopers arrived, the man was pulling his vehicle out of the gas station lot, reports said. The driver stopped after his vehicle almost left the roadway while attempting to get back on the freeway, police said.
The 44-year-old Ypsilanti driver was arrested. At the Washtenaw County Jail, he registered a blood alcohol content of .18 — more than twice the legal limit of .08 to be considered drunken driving.
In the second incident, a trooper responded to a rollover crash on I-94 in Sylvan Township. A caller reported the crash, but said the driver requested that no one call police, reports said.
State police said the man lost control of his company work van, which flipped on the ramp to westbound I-94 from M-52 near Chelsea, according to a news release. The driver, a 39-year-old Grass Lake resident, also had a blood alcohol content of .18, police said.
Both men are expected to be charged under Michigan's new "super drunk law." Under the new law that went into effect Oct. 31, motorists face enhanced penalties if arrested with a .17 or higher blood alcohol content.
If convicted under the new "super drunk" law, jail time increases to 180 days, fines reach $700 and a one-year license suspension is possible.
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