Police: Driver Asked Cop If It Was OK To Be Behind The Wheel After Drinking

When Clarkstown police received a call about a suspected drunk driver in the parking lot of a Nanuet restaurant, they didn't have far to go to find him.

While a town officer was driving in a lot near the Chili's restaurant on Route 59 in Nanuet, police said Michael Trent, 58, of New City pulled his car up next to the officer and asked if it was OK to drive even though he had been drinking.

The officer quickly had an answer for that question: "No."

Police said Trent appeared intoxicated and the town officer told Trent he needed to take a field sobriety test — which he failed. Trent, according to police, was taken to police headquarters in New City and then failed a chemical breath test for alcohol.

The incident started at about 8:20 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 4, when police received a call about an intoxicated person leaving Chili's. Town police officers were alerted about the possible drunk driver, and almost immediately police said Trent had the encounter with a town officer.

Police said Trent told the officer he had been drinking at Chili's. Trent was charged with driving while intoxicated, a misdemeanor, and later released pending a Clarkstown Town Court hearing in New City on Dec. 19.