Bangor woman draws OUI, speeding charges

A fast-moving SUV was reported to be under the influence of a drunken driver early Sunday morning.

Bangor police Officer Wade Benson was on patrol shortly after 1:30 a.m. on Valley Avenue when he saw a gold-colored Chevrolet Blazer moving at well over the posted limit of 25 mph and gaining speed. By the time the SUV passed Benson’s cruiser, the radar showed it was moving at 59 mph, Benson said. The SUV went up 14th Street Extension and out of sight.

Benson caught up to the SUV at the Union Street light. The SUV spun its wheels into a jerky left turn through the red light and rode up onto a snowbank, Benson said.

Benson pulled the SUV over after the turn. The driver was Manon St. Pierre, 38, of Bangor. Her eyes were glassy and bloodshot, Benson said.

St. Pierre said she didn’t realize she was speeding. Her speech was slurred, Benson said, and when she got out of the car Benson noted that she smelled strongly of alcohol. St. Pierre admitted to having had three drinks, but later said it was four, Benson said.

During the field sobriety test, St. Pierre reportedly was unsteady on her feet, swaying and stumbling on the walk-and-turn test. Benson had to stop the leg-stand test so that St. Pierre wouldn’t injure herself, he said.

St. Pierre reportedly said she had difficulty writing the alphabet from D to W because she is French. She tried reciting the letters with a French pronunciation as she wrote, but still left out the letter J, and stopped at L, Benson said.

Benson arrested St. Pierre for operating under the influence. At the station, St. Pierre was unable to blow properly into the Intoxilyzer, Benson said. He took her to St. Joseph Hospital for a blood sample and then directly to Penobscot County Jail, where she was charged with operating under the influence of intoxicants and criminal speeding.

A Bangor man on Sunday morning found that his car had been egged.

Stephen Lovell, 18, told police that somebody had thrown eggs on his 1988 Acura at about 7 a.m.

Lovell had a guess as to who had done it, but no proof, Officer Brad Hanson said.

The eggs washed off and did no damage.

– Compiled by NEWS reporter Isaac Kimball