BY JANE PRENDERGAST
The Cincinnati Enquirer
COVINGTON -- The bicycle weaved and wiggled down Garvey Avenue. The Elsmere policeman was headed to do some paperwork when he spotted it.
He watched for a few seconds. Quickly, he realized: I think this guy's drunk. And he's riding a bike. Well, barely.
"As soon as I saw the guy, I knew it was a DUI," Officer Steve Canfield said. "He was just weaving all over the road. It was unlike anything I've ever seen."
By the time he was stopped just before 2:30 a.m. Thursday, Patrick J. DePalma had made it to his own driveway on Ash Street. But when he refused to do some of the usual field sobriety tests and couldn't properly perform a one-leg stand, Officer Canfield decided to handcuff him. He walked the bicycle up into Mr. DePalma's yard. He didn't think the bike would fit in his trunk, so he didn't confiscate it.
Tested later on the police department's Intoxilyzer 5000 machine, Mr. DePalma blew 0.233. That's almost 2 1/2 times the legal limit. The official charge: operating a nonmotor vehicle under the influence. Kentucky law describes such vehicles as "muscle-powered."
"We don't make the laws," chief prosecutor Bill Crockett said. "We just enforce them."
Mr. DePalma, 32, pleaded not guilty Thursday and was let out of jail.
It has been more than a year since the relatively obscure charge was leveled against anyone in Kenton County. The last time, Terry Imel of Cincinnati was charged under the law after a police officer allegedly saw him nearly cause an accident.
Police confiscated Mr. Imel's bike, he was arraigned and told to return for court on another day. He never showed. A warrant for him remains unserved.
