NEWBURGH HEIGHTS, Ohio — Jay Merriweather of Cleveland kept Newburgh Heights police busy early Monday morning.
That’s when he was arrested twice within three hours for driving under the influence.
Police first stopped Merriweather on I-77 and Grant Avenue around 4:15 am because he was driving without headlights. Police said they smelled alcohol and asked Merriweather to perform a couple of sobriety tests, which he failed.
Police found in his car a small baggie filled with what they suspect is cocaine.
Merriweather was taken to the Newburgh Heights police station, where he refused further sobriety tests. This resulted in the immediately suspension of Merriweather’s driver’s license.
Police released Merriweather shortly before 7 am on personal bond and to the custody of his girlfriend, who came to drive him home, police said in the incident report.
What happened next surprised the Newburgh Heights officers.
Merriweather got behind the wheel of his girlfriend’s car -- and drove away.
Watching from the station, officers jumped from their chairs and ran into the parking to stop Merriweather. Police caught up with Merriweather a couple of blocks away and arrested him again for drunk driving - and for driving without a valid license.
Video footage from the officers' body cameras shows the second arrest was made at an intersection of Washington Park and Harvard Avenue. A couple of school buses are visible nearby.
“He knew his license was suspended and yet he still drove away from the parking lot of the station,” Newburgh Heights Police Chief John T. Majoy told Channel 3. “While the second arrest was several hours later, he was still under the influence. Not that there is a good time. But there couldn’t been a worse time because there was more traffic.”