Barnstead man faces third DWI charge

LACONIA — Barnstead Police charged a Chichester man with his third charge of driving while intoxicated after the driver crossed the yellow line after a rapid deceleration on Suncook Valley Road Sunday night.

Paperwork obtained from the 4th Circuit Court, Laconia Division said that Kyle Drouin, 28, was convicted of DWI in 2007 and in 2015.

Police said that when they approached Drouin, the pupils of his eyes were the size of pinpoints, he slurred his speech and his eyes were glassy and bloodshot.

The officer asked Drouin to blow into his interlock device and his blood alcohol level registered as zero.

When asked why his eyes appeared the way they did, Drouin told them he had taken some medication and handed them two empty medication bottles.

Drouin consented to a field sobriety test but had a difficult time maintaining his balance once out of the car. He told the police he didn't wear glasses, that he had major knee surgery and a brain injury that affects his balance.

The police performed a "horizontal gaze nystagmus" test on Drouin and he allegedly showed six clues of intoxication. They also said he couldn't perform the walk-and-turn test, the one-leg stand test, and was unable to touch his nose with his finger.

Drouin refused to take a blood test, which is his right, and was placed under arrest. He didn't have a passenger and said he had nobody to pick up his car so police had it towed by a local contractor. The inventory search revealed a plastic bag filled with a green leafy vegetative matter and a burnt pipe that smelled like marijuana. The search stopped and the car was towed to Tilton so Barnstead Police could apply for a search warrant.

Drouin is also charged with possession less than one ounce of marijuana and transporting less than an ounce of marijuana in a vehicle, both of which are misdemeanors.

He was held overnight in the Belknap County House of Corrections and has since posted bail.

– Gail Ober