East Haven police netted a high-ranking Rhode Island lawmaker at a sobriety checkpoint Friday night. When stopped at the Foxon Road checkpoint at about 9:30 p.m., Rhode Island’s House minority leader Robert Watson was slurring his words, smelled of marijuana and had the “distinct odor of alcoholic beverages emanating from his breath,” according to a police report.
Before failing several field sobriety tests, Watson reportedly told East Haven officer Vincent Ferrara “that he was an attorney and that he does these tests with his friends while out at bars.” After Ferrara arrested Watson and charged him with driving under the influence, a pat down revealed a small, plastic bag of pot and a wooden pipe in Watson’s pocket, leading to additional charges of possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia, according to the report.
Foxon Road Sobriety Checkpoint Nabs Rhode Island Lawmaker on Marijuana Charges,