Trucker in trouble after burger beef
WOONSOCKET – Leoncio Gonzalez placed an order at the Burger King drive-through Friday, but no, he didn’t get it his way.
After striking the Social Street restaurant building with the box truck he was driving, Gonzalez allegedly got into a beef with the manager and fled the scene without picking up his order.
Gonzalez, 37, of 541 East School St., was later charged with possession of a stolen motor vehicle; operating under the influence; driving with an invalid license; leaving the scene of an accident involving a highway fixture; refusal to submit to a preliminary breath test; and refusal to submit to a chemical test.
The manager of Burger King called police about 11:25 p.m. to report that a man driving a large box truck placed an order at the drivethrough. But the truck was too large to fit through a portico-like structure attached to the building that hangs over the drive-through.
The manager told police she spoke with the operator of the truck to demand his license and registration, but he told her he did not have it and drove off.
Probationary Patrol Officer Christopher J. Rooney stopped the truck moments later at Social and Rathbun streets. A registration check revealed that the Budget rental truck had been reported stolen by a vendor in Lincoln.
Because Gonzalez allegedly smelled of alcohol and his eyes were watery and bloodshot, police asked him if he’d been drinking. He told them he had “a few beers and two shots of Hennesey,” according to reports.
Police said he refused both the preliminary and standard field sobriety tests.
But Gonzalez was charged with driving under the influence based on his performance during a battery of field tests, including heel-to-toe and the one-legged stand. Police said another indicator known as gaze nystagmus, an involuntary contraction of the muscles in the eye, showed that his blood alcohol was over the legal limit for driving.
Police described the damage to the Burger King building as minor.