According to a Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office incident report, On June 3rd, 2023, at 11:10 PM, Sgt Buchanan was sitting stationary at 1710 Cleveland Hwy observing traffic. Sgt. Buchanan had a citizen pull beside him and tell him that a white van heading south on Hwy 71 was “all over the road.” Sgt. Buchanan quickly headed south on Hwy 71 to locate the vehicle. Sgt. Buchanan located the white van driving all over the roadway and initiated a traffic stop at approximately 1301 North Glenwood Ave. According to the report, “The van took a longer than normal amount of time to acknowledge Sgt. Buchanan was behind the vehicle with his blue lights on. The vehicle then came to a stop in the Kroger parking lot near the gas pumps. Sgt. Buchanan then approached the vehicle. Sgt. Buchanan saw that the driver (Ruben Martinez, 59, of Dalton) had rolled all the windows down. Mr. Martinez also had a pack of mints in his hand that he was attempting to hide from Sgt. Buchanan. Sgt. Buchanan could smell the strong odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from the vehicle while at the window. Sgt. Buchanan also noticed that Mr. Martinez’s eyes were bloodshot. Sgt. Buchanan also saw that Mr. Martinez had urinated on himself.” During field sobriety testing, Martinez showed several signs of impairment. Martinez was placed under arrest for DUI and booked into the Whitfield County Jail.
Dalton man arrested for DUI after concerned citizen alerts deputy to vehicle driving all over the road
