Daylight saving time switch led to man being arrested twice at the same time for drunk driving

The end of daylight saving time caused a unique situation in Urbana, Ohio, on Sunday morning. Police there arrested a man twice in one day, but at the same exact time. Chief Matt Lingrell explained that Niles Gammons of Urbana was arrested for operating a vehicle while intoxicated at 1:08 a.m., then released with a summons to appear in court this week. An hour later, it was again 1:08 a.m. and police caught Gammons driving under the influence once again.



According to a statement from police, Sgt. David Reese observed Gammons driving the wrong way down a one-way alley. During his contact with Gammons, Reese determined he was driving impaired and had Gammons submit to field sobriety tests. It was discovered that Gammons had pennies inside his mouth. “It is a false myth that pennies will offset the results of a breath test,” Lingrell said in the release. Gammons was discovered to be in possession of a small amount of marijuana and had a blood alcohol content above the legal limit to drive.

He was issued citations for OVI, obstructing official business and minor misdemeanor drug abuse. He was placed under an administrative licence suspension, ordered into court on Nov. 5 and released to the care of a responsible party. Exactly one hour later, while on patrol in the municipal parking lot off of the 100 block of Miami Street, Sgt. Reese saw the same vehicle Gammons had been driving earlier back up suddenly from a parking spot. The vehicle almost collided with the police cruiser. Reese observed it was again 1:08 a.m. and it was Gammons driving.



“Gammons admitted that he knew he was under suspension from the previous arrest,” the release said. He again was arrested for OVI and was transported to the Urbana Police Division, where he submitted to another breath test and was again found to be over the legal limit to drive. He was issued a new citation for OVI and ordered to appear in court. On Monday he appeared in Champaign County Municipal Court and a pre-trial hearing was set for Nov. 15.