Second Striker, Wrong Side Driver - toward oncoming marked police vehicle - OCSD Deputy Charged with DUI

Posted by CotoBlogzz

Rancho Santa Margarita  - Mario Manuel Castro, an off-duty Orange County Sheriff's Department deputy was charged today with driving under the influence of alcohol with a .24 blood alcohol level on the wrong side of the road toward an oncoming marked police vehicle. You cannot make this up.

According to the Orange County District Attorney’s (OCDA office, )Castro, 33, Orange, is charged with one misdemeanor count of driving under the influence of alcohol with a prior, one misdemeanor count of driving with a blood alcohol .08 percent or more with a prior, and a sentencing enhancement allegation for having a blood alcohol level over .15 percent.

Castro has a prior conviction for driving under the influence of alcohol in Los Angeles County in 2009.  Castro is scheduled to be arraigned Nov. 16, 2011, at the Central Justice Center in Santa Ana.. 

At approximately 2:15 a.m. on Sept. 30, 2011, Castro is accused of driving under the influence of alcohol in the City of Orange after consuming several alcoholic beverages at a bar in Costa Mesa. He is accused of driving on the wrong side of the road into oncoming traffic directly toward a marked Orange Police Department (OPD) patrol car. 

After being stopped by an OPD officer, the defendant is accused of displaying objective signs of alcohol intoxication including emitting strong odor of alcohol and extremely unsteady balance. Castro is accused of having a blood alcohol level of .24 percent, three times the legal limit. 

Senior Deputy District Attorney Rebecca Olivieri of the Special Prosecutions Unit is prosecuting this case.