Article published June 02, 2005
Defiance resident in court for 18th DUI
Alleged offense was 2nd in recent months
By JANE SCHMUCKER
BLADE STAFF WRITER
DEFIANCE - A 42-year-old, unemployed Defiance man with a suspended driver's license was arrested for the 18th time for driving under the influence of alcohol after he allegedly left a gas station without paying for his fuel on Memorial Day.
It was the second arrest for driving under the influence in just over three months for Antonio Briseno, who authorities say is near the state record for such charges. "We've tried everything," said Defiance Municipal Judge John T. Rohrs III, who along with other northwest Ohio judges, has sent Briseno to prison, to rehabilitation, and to "program after program" as well as fining him thousands of dollars over more than two decades. "He'll go through the motions because he's ordered to do that and comes right back out, and there he goes again."
Yesterday at his preliminary hearing on Monday's charges of operating a vehicle while intoxicated, driving under suspension, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, theft, and obstructing official business, Briseno asked Judge Rohrs to reconsider after he set bond at $10,000 cash.
"I didn't hurt anybody," Judge Rohrs recalled Briseno saying.
"And I said, 'I'm going to make sure you don't,'●" the judge said he replied.
"I've been dealing with him for about 20 years, and it's onlybeen three or four weeks ago he had another [court appearance] and he asked me to give him a break then. And I basically told him he didn't deserve one."
Briseno remained last night in the Corrections Center of Northwest Ohio, Stryker. It is the 16th time he has been held there in 13 years.
Briseno, who lives with his parents, took their sport utility vehicle Monday without permission, the Defiance County Sheriff's Office said.
He had a passenger with him when he stopped at the Defiance Party Mart gas station, just east of Defiance, about 7 a.m. The two men went into the store and argued about who would pay for $19 in gasoline put in the vehicle, but neither did. Briseno's passenger walked away; Briseno drove away.
The clerk called deputies, who stopped Briseno a few blocks away, saw an empty bottle of beer in the cup holder, smelled alcohol, and asked Briseno to take a field sobriety test, according to their report. He failed so overwhelmingly, according to the report, that a deputy stopped one test to prevent Briseno from falling over.
Later, as he was waiting to take a breath test, Briseno tried to drink water, which is prohibited before the test, and tried to spit in the machine and suck air out of it. Authorities counted his actions as a refusal to take the test, the ninth time he has done so in 20 years, according to the sheriff's report.
Briseno is expected to be indicted by a Defiance County grand jury. If he is, the charges from this week probably would be heard at the same time as his indictment for allegedly operating a vehicle while intoxicated Feb. 24. A pretrial hearing on that indictment is set for June 9 in Defiance County Common Pleas Court.
There, he will face Judge Joseph Schmenk, who is as familiar with him as Judge Rohrs. If found guilty, Briseno could be sentenced to prison, but the law would not require that.
Judge Rohrs said he hopes Judge Schmenk finds a punishment that will shake Briseno into understanding the seriousness of his actions. Another court appearance alone is unlikely to do that, he said.
Briseno has been convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol in Toledo, Napoleon, Bryan, and Defiance municipal courts and in Fulton County Western District Court.
Contact Jane Schmucker at:
jschmucker@theblade.com
or 419-337-7780.
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