They were asleep in a running car, sitting in a highway lane. Here's why.
A young Groveland woman and Modesto man told a Tuolumne County deputy they didn't even know where they were when he found them unconscious in a car sitting in a lane of Highway 108/120 in Jamestown early Wednesday.
They knew where they were not long afterward: in the Tuolumne County Jail.
About 4:30 a.m. in the area of O'Byrnes Ferry Road, the deputy spotted Naomi Arista, 18, asleep behind the wheel of a black Mercedes — still running, still in drive, but immobile because it was on an uphill slope and her foot wasn't on the gas. In the passenger seat was Alwyn Bans, 20.
A Facebook post by the Tuolumne County Sheriff's Office refers to the pair as "sleeping," which appears to be a generous use of the word. "Passed out" seems more fitting.
It took the deputy a few minutes to rouse the pair, said Sgt. Andrea Benson, the department spokeswoman. "She (Arista) wasn't at the time even able to tell him who she was. ... She thought she was in Modesto." And Bans told the deputy he wasn't sure how he ended up in the car, Benson said.
The pair created a dangerous traffic hazard. Highway 108/120 is well traveled, though traffic was light that early in the morning. And though there was a traffic light not far ahead of where the Mercedes stopped, the speed limit is about 55 mph, Benson said.
The deputy told Arista to put the car in park, but she was unable to do so. In neutral, the Mercedes began to roll backward, nearly hitting the deputy’s patrol car. "Thankfully, the deputy reached inside Arista’s car and was able to stop it from moving," the Facebook post says.
The California Highway Patrol also responded to the scene. A search of the car turned up a loaded, unregistered 9mm handgun.
Arista was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence and possession of an unregistered, loaded firearm. Bans also faces the weapons charge. A test for blood alcohol level was negative, Benson said, so Arista apparently was under the influence of something else.
A search of her and Bans at the jail revealed what that something else likely was. Tucked in Bans' sock were three baggies containing 11 grams of cocaine, according to the Facebook post. "Bans admitted to possessing and transporting the cocaine to our county to sell and picked up additional charges of possession of a controlled substance for sale and possession of a controlled substance while armed with a loaded firearm."
The jail custody report showed Bans being held Wednesday on $25,000 bail, and Arista on $15,000.
This story was originally published February 1, 2018 at 2:52 PM with the headline "They were asleep in a running car, sitting in a highway lane. Here's why.."