CLINTON — On Sunday, February 11, 2024, at about 5:59 p.m., Officer Robert Champagne of the Clinton Police Department was dispatched to Willow Street after a woman called 911 on her son’s behalf. The woman reported that her son was driving behind a white van with a “GBT Painting” logo on it that was swerving in and out of oncoming traffic.
(The account and quotations in this article were taken from the printed Personnel Narrative of Officer Champagne.)
While enroute, dispatch informed Officer Champagne that the van was passing the Court House and heading into town on Route 70.
When Officer Champagne reached Chestnut Street, which is Route 70, he saw a van matching the given description. The van was swerving between the fog line on the road’s right edge and the yellow center line of the road.
The van, which was driving approximately 10 mph in a 30-mph zone, had a long line of vehicles behind it as it travelled up Chestnut Street hill.
“I also observed the van did not have its taillights illuminated and only the front facing ‘daytime running lights’ were on,” Officer Champagne said. “It should be noted the headlights were not on either, only the running lights. I activated my blue emergency lights to turn around in traffic and get behind the van.”
After taking a left turn onto Grove Street, Officer Champagne pulled the van over near the intersection of Grove and Pleasant streets.
The officer approached the driver’s side door and spoke with the driver, who was later identified as Renato Oliveira.
According to police, Renato Oliveira, 43, is a resident of Summit Street in Clinton.
“I immediately observed a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage omitting from the vehicle,” Officer Champagne said. “Renato was the only occupant of the vehicle. I observed Renato had bloodshot and glassy eyes. I asked Renato for the registration for the vehicle and his license. Renato responded that he does not have a license. I asked if he had a license to operate in Massachusetts or any other state and he stated ‘no.’”
At this time, Officer Brian O’Malley arrived on scene.
“I asked Renato if he had anything to drink and he stated ‘a few,’” Officer Champagne said.
Officer Champagne then asked Oliveira to step out of the vehicle so he could conduct field sobriety tests.
After Oliveira got out of the van, Officer Champagne escorted him to a well-lit area between the rear of his van and the front of the officer’s cruiser.
“I requested Renato to perform a standardized field sobriety test. Renato stated he understands,” Officer Champagne said. “Renato also stated he is fluent in Portuguese and understands a little English. I told Renato to let me know if he has any trouble understanding what I am saying. He stated he understood.”
Officer Champagne then began to demonstrate the first test, the nine-step walk-and-turn.
“I showed Renato the starting position and he stated he understood. It should be noted that while outside the vehicle I continued to detect a strong odor of alcoholic beverage omitting from Renato. I also observed Renato had slurred speech while speaking with me,” Officer Champagne said.
Officer Champagne said that Oliveira couldn’t stand up straight while he was demonstrating the starting position for the nine-step walk-and-turn test. Oliveira also stumbled while attempting the test.
“He could not put his feet heel to tow or keep his hands by his side. Every time he attempted to get into the starting position, he would lose his balance and fall into his van. He needed to place his hand on the rear of his van to keep balance,” Officer Champagne said. “At this time, I stopped the test as it became unsafe for Renato to continue to try and stand and maintain balance. I feared Renato may fall and become injured. At this time, I formed the opinion that Renato’s ability to safely operate a motor vehicle was impaired. I requested Renato to turn around and place his hands behind his back. I placed Renato in handcuffs (double locked) and informed him he was under arrest.”
Officer Champagne placed Oliveira in the back of his cruiser and transported him to the Clinton Police Station for booking.
Officer O’Malley remained on scene to await the tow truck and search the van. While doing the inventory, Officer O’Malley located seven open Bud Lights and one open Heineken beer (three of which were under the driver’s seat, while the remaining five open containers were in a brown bag in the front passenger area), five unopened Bud Light beer cans in a 12-pack in the front passenger area, and four unopened Fireball Cinnamon Whiskey nips in the front passenger area of the van.
During the booking process, Officer Champagne said Oliveira consented to a breathalyzer test with a Portuguese translator present. Oliveira took the brutalizer twice, getting 0.319 on the first test and 0.310 on the second.
After failing the breathalyzer, Officer Champagne gave Oliveira a copy of his license suspension notice.
Officer Champagne also looked Oliveira up in the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) database, which confirmed that he did not have a driver’s license.
Oliveira was formally charged with the following: negligent operation of a motor vehicle, lights violation/equipment, alcohol in motor vehicle (open container), and unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle.
Disclaimer: If you are wondering why the incident in this story was from February, that’s because I had to file FOIA request(s) to get the court documents for the incident. FOIAs are time consuming.
