Man Found Passed Out at the Wheel at an Intersection

The following incident was reported by the Brecksville Police Department on Jan. 14. The information was compiled from a police report.

At about 9 p.m. on Jan. 14, police responded to a 911 call that said an SUV was stopped at the intersection of state routes 21 and 82. The driver was reportedly passed out at the wheel.

Police found the SUV in the eastbound lane, and cars were driving around it. Police saw the driver slumped forward, hair covering his face, and his foot on the brake. Police tried to wake the driver, but he didn’t respond until they were trying to open his passenger door. The driver seemed to struggle with directions to roll down the window, the report noted. There was no smell of alcohol inside, and police believed the driver might have been going through a medical emergency. 

But paramedics soon told police that the man had been drinking and did not appear to have a medical problem. Police also found an unlabeled bottle of Adderall—a controlled substance—and some unopened cans of malt liquor in the car.

The driver told police he was embarrassed about falling asleep at the wheel, and that the pills weren’t his. He was given a number of field sobriety tests, some of which showed signs of intoxication, and refused to give a breath test. 

He was arrested for operating a vehicle under the influence and taken back to the station. There, he told police he had consumed four beers in three hours, and that he had last taken an Adderall pill the day before. He then admitted that the pills in the car were his, but that he did not have a prescription.

Nicholas Q. Marchetti, 23, of Brecksville, was charged with possession of a controlled substance, a fifth-degree felony, and for impeding traffic and for operating a vehicle under the influence. 

Everybody makes mistakes—even us! If there's something in this article that you think should be corrected, or if something else is amiss, give Local Editor Rachel Abbey McCafferty a ring at 440-292-7245 or shoot her an email at rachel.abbey@patch.com.