Thirty-year-old Omar Rodriguez of Knightdale was charged with impaired driving after failing a BAC (blood-alcohol-concentration) test. Defending against the DWI charge may be the least of his worries however, Wake County officers had pulled him over after broke into two cars and rammed a third with his own truck.
Rodriguez was also cited for speeding; police estimated that he was traveling about 15 mph over the posted speed limit. During the traffic stop on New Hope Church Road, police report that Rodriguez attempted to hit one of the police officers with his truck before attempting to escape by driving away.
He was finally apprehended just north of I-540 on Capital Boulevard.
In addition to the drunk driving charge, Rodriquez faces criminal charges of:
- Assault with a deadly weapon
- Hit-and-run
- Reckless driving
- Wanton disregard for the safety of others
- Assault with a deadly weapon on emergency personnel
- Fleeing to elude capture
- Breaking and entering a vehicle
- Larceny
Both assault charges stem from Rodriguez using his personal truck to attempt to inflict injury on another. The car he rammed into held four people. He also allegedly tried to hit one of the police officers involved in the traffic stop for speeding. There were no reports of injury to the officer nor to any of the individuals in the car.
He was held in jail over the weekend on $71,000 bond. He was scheduled for a hearing on Monday morning.
Source: News Observer, “Man faces assault charges in string of Raleigh crashes,” July 8, 2012