At about 3:07pm Friday afternoon, Turlock Police, Turlock Fire, and AMR responded to an injury vehicle collision in the 3800 block of Crowell Road.
When units arrived on scene, they found that a 2007 Ford F-150 that had been towing a Rockwood Mini Lite camper trailer had struck a 2011 Nissan Rogue which had been parked on the side of the road and was unoccupied.
The F-150 had two human occupants, driver Michael Patton, 54, of Turlock, and passenger Richelle Patton, 50, of Turlock, as well as their dog. Michael was bleeding from his face, however, refused treatment or transport. Richelle and their dog were uninjured.
Michael was determined to have a valid driver’s license and was a sex offender who was in compliance with the terms of his registration.
While speaking with Michael, Officer Kauffman noticed that he was exhibiting objective symptoms of being under the influence, so he asked him if he’d be willing to participate in standardized field sobriety tests. Michael agreed and completed the tests, however, performed poorly. Kauffman then asked Michael if he’d be willing to blow into a preliminary alcohol screening device, which he did.
Based on the totality of the circumstances, Kauffman determined that Michael was under the influence of alcohol, so he arrested him.
While Kauffman was speaking with Michael, Richelle approached him and told him that she had punched Michael while he was driving, which is what caused his facial injury and the crash.
Officer Rios began investigating Richelle’s claim, and it was sustained after a witness gave a similar account of what had happened. Richelle was also arrested.
Michael provided two breath samples at the scene as required by California’s implied consent law. He was also issued a driver’s license suspension order and both his F-150 and trailer were impounded.
Michael was then released on a citation for driving under the influence of alcohol and failing to provide evidence of financial responsibility to a peace officer, while Richelle was booked into the Stanislaus County Public Safety Center on the charge of domestic violence inflicting corporal injury.
Michael’s dog was released to him and he took him home.
Had Richelle not decided to randomly approach an officer and tell him that she had punched Michael, she wouldn’t have gone to jail and would have been able to go home with Michael. Instead, she got herself a felony charge and a trip to jail because of the injury that she caused.
