An Urbana police officer pulled Melvin over around 1:12 a.m. Wednesday after following behind his truck while he committed several “marked lanes violations,” according to Champaign County Municipal Court records.
The officer was following Melvin’s truck on North Jefferson Avenue when they saw it “start and stop aggressively” several times at the stop light, possibly an attempt to trigger the light sensor, according to a statement of facts. This also “raised suspicion of a possibly impaired driver.”
Once the light turned green, the truck entered the intersection and crossed Scioto Street onto South Jefferson Avenue, committing several marked lane violations, according to court records. A short time later, the truck then sat a green light at the Jefferson Avenue intersection for 10 seconds before entering the intersection.
The officer then activated the overhead lights and initiated a traffic stop, during which the truck committed another marked lane violation. “It did not appear at first” the truck was going to stop, so the officer activated the siren and Melvin then stopped.
Once stopped, police saw what appeared to be vomit on the driver’s side door and an odor of alcohol coming from the truck, according to records.
Melvin provided both his driver’s license and a law enforcement card identifying him as the Champaign County Sheriff.
The officer had Melvin step out of the truck, at which time he appeared to be off balance, according to court records.
Melvin was asked to complete some field sobriety tests. After repeatedly saying, “Really?” and “You guys are amazing,” he refused the tests and was arrested for OVI, according to the officer. At the police division, he also refused a breath test and fingerprinting, according to court records.
Melvin’s term as sheriff is about to end. In March 2024, he lost the Republican primary election for the Sheriff’s role to Chad Burroughs, who was then elected in November.
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