Durango, CO : Durango city trolley driver arrested on suspicion of DUI on Monday, December 5th, 2016

A Durango Transit driver was arrested Monday on suspicion of drunken driving.

Michael Corlies, 64, of Bayfield, was behind the wheel of a trolley about 8:30 a.m. when his side mirror struck a Cisco truck parked in the 1100 block of Main Avenue, said Lt. Ray Shupe, spokesman with the Durango Police Department.

Corlies kept driving north on Main Avenue to the Iron Horse Inn, a distance of about three miles, where the mirror fell off, Shupe said.

Corlies used his radio to notify Transit dispatchers of the problem. The damaged trolley was parked in a safe location, and Corlies was provided with a different vehicle to continue his routes.

Meanwhile, Transit officials reviewed on-board video footage, which showed that he had hit another vehicle without stopping – a violation of the law and Transit department protocol, said Amber Blake, city director of transportation.

It also gave the city reasonable suspicion to perform a drug-and-alcohol test, she said.

City officials brought him in for testing and further questioning about 11:20 a.m., Shupe said. After realizing he was intoxicated, Corlies was turned over to law enforcement for a formal blood-alcohol test, which occurred shortly after noon, Shupe said.

“Nobody really put it together until they started reviewing the video to see what happened with the mirror because his claim was the mirror just fell off,” Shupe said. “The mechanics and folks out at the city yard were like, mirrors don’t just fall off. So they started looking at the video and realized there was a problem.”

The results of the blood test were not immediately available.

Corlies was cited with hit-and-run, failure to report a crash and drunken driving, Shupe said.

No one was injured, and no one on the trolley complained about his driving behavior.

It was not immediately known if the Cisco truck was damaged.

Blank did not immediately know how long Corlies has worked as a Transit driver.

Source :
Durango city trolley driver arrested on suspicion of DUI