A Schuylkill County man was jailed Tueseday on charges linked to an incident back in May in which police say he ran from a DUI traffic stop, attempted to unlock a residence using multiple keys, and then tested positive for cocaine and alcohol.
Michael Moquete Mendez, 36, of Shenandoah, is charged with a felony count of fleeing or attempting to elude an officer, three misdemeanor counts of DUI, and summary counts of driving without a license, careless driving, disregarding traffic lanes, and improper signaling. He is currently held in Schuylkill County Prison after failing to post 10% of $10,000 bail.
Police in Shenandoah say the incident began just before 3 a.m. on May 9 when officers noticed a gold Hyundai Sonata driving erratically, swerving over double-yellow lines, and making a right-hand turn into the oncoming lane of E. Centre St. When police initiated a traffic stop on N. Emerick St., officers say Mendez exited the vehicle and fled eastbound on foot.
Police allege Mendez ignored verbal commands to stop and ran to the front door of a residence at 301 E. Center St. Officers say Mendez continued to ignore commands and attempted to use multiple keys to gain access to the home before police placed him in handcuffs.
Upon returning to the traffic stop location, police noted a strong odor of alcohol emanating from Mendez. Using a translation application due to a Spanish language barrier, police say Mendez provided unconfirmed identification cards from the Dominican Republic, but officers could not verify a valid driver’s license status.
Police say Mendez agreed to perform standardized field sobriety testing but failed to follow instructions, exhibited multiple cues of intoxication, and yielded a positive result on a preliminary breath test. Mendez was transported to a hospital, where police say he agreed to a blood test before being released.
Lab results received by police on May 21 indicated Mendez had a blood alcohol content of .108% and 39 ng/ml of cocaine in his system at the time of the blood draw, police say.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for July 23.
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