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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Belleview man popped for DUI after injury-causing crash

Anthony Scott Rowley

A Belleview man was charged with DUI after a two-vehicle crash that injured another man last week.

At around 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, a Belleview Police officer responded to the report of a rollover crash in the area of SE 62nd Avenue and South U.S. Highway 301. The officer observed a white Ford four-door vehicle off the south side of the roadway and a white male lying next to it. Other officers who were already on the scene told the officer that the driver of the other vehicle, a red Acura, was showing signs of impairment, according to the police report.

The driver of the Acura was identified as Anthony Scott Rowley, 27, of 10640 SE 131st Place. The officer observed Rowley’s pupils were restricted and his speech was slow and slurred. Rowley also appeared to have problems balancing himself while he spoke to the officer, the report said.

Paramedics from Marion County Fire Rescue Station 18 told the officer they checked Rowley and he was showing signs of impairment, but his blood sugar was normal. They said Rowley did not want to be taken to a hospital, according to the report.

After a Belleview Police corporal completed the traffic crash investigation, the deputy spoke with Rowley in the parking lot of St. Theresa’s Church at 11528 S. U.S. Hwy. 301 and told him the crash investigation was over and a criminal investigation was starting. Rowley was at first reluctant to perform field sobriety exercises but eventually agreed to them, the report said.

Rowley said he did not have any injuries or take any medication. He said he was able to walk around a grocery store without any assistance. Rowley said he did not take any drugs and he had not ingested marijuana in several days. He said he sees a chiropractor because he was in a traffic accident in the past, according to the report.

Rowley failed the series of sobriety exercises, which included the horizontal gaze nystagmus exercize, walk-and-turn exercise, one-leg stand, finger to nose exercise and Romberg balance exercise. He was placed under arrest and taken to the Marion County Jail, where a breath-alcohol test came back with a reading of 0.00. The officer aske Rowley to provide a urine sample and he refused, the report said.

Rowley was told that his refusal to take a urine test could be used against him in court. When asked why he was refusing, he said he didn’t want something he had taken in the past to show up in his urine sample. The officer asked Rowley what he had taken recently, but he refused to say, according to the report.

Rowley, who was charged with DUI with property damage and injury, was released Wednesday on his own recognizance.