At about 12:46am Saturday morning, Officer Khounlivong observed a vehicle being driven with illegal window tint, so he made a traffic stop on it.
Khounlivong made contact with and identified the driver of the vehicle as Ivan Perez, 32, of Turlock. Perez displayed objective symptoms of being under the influence and had two children in the backseat, an 11-year-old and a 13-year-old.
When Khounlivong had his dispatcher run Perez, he discovered that he was on court probation through 2026 due to two prior DUI convictions.
Khounlivong waited for a second officer to arrive and then removed Perez from his vehicle to have him participate in standardized field sobriety tests. Perez participated in the tests, but did so poorly. Khounlivong then had Perez blow into a preliminary alcohol screening device.
Based on the totality of the circumstances, Khounlivong determined that Perez was under the influence of alcohol and arrested him.
Perez provided two breath samples at the scene as required by California’s implied consent law. He was subsequently booked into the Stanislaus County Public Safety Center on two counts of child abuse or endangerment under circumstances likely to produce great bodily harm or death, driving under the influence of alcohol, and driving a vehicle with a material affixed to its window.
Perez was also issued a driver’s license suspension order and his vehicle was impounded.
The two children were released to an adult who came and picked them up.