Sheriff: Windsor DUI suspect had flat tire, drugs in truck

A Windsor man suspected of driving while under the influence of drugs with a stash of marijuana in his pickup happened to drive by a Windsor deputy finishing up a DUI arrest.

The deputy was alerted to the passing pickup by the loud thump of its flat tire, sheriff's Sgt. Cecile Focha said Monday.

Heading for the jail with his arrestee in the back seat, the deputy initially got behind the Chevrolet truck and put his light on it, thinking the driver should stop and deal with the tire, Focha said.

But the driver, following closely behind a van, then rear-ended that vehicle in view of the deputy and still didn't stop, continuing north along Windsor Road.

The deputy then handed off Friday's 10 p.m. issue to two other deputies who followed the disabled truck as it drove on Windsor and Windsor River Road. They reported the driver slowly ran a stop sign and was going 40-50 mph with the bad tire down to the rim.

The pickup driver stopped on residential Oak Park Street.

As the two deputies got out to arrest him, several neighbors and family members spilled out of homes and began lambasting the law enforcement officers, Focha said.

The deputies reported driver Rodolfo Fabbiani-Leon Jr., 21, staggered as he got out of the truck. He was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of drugs, possessing and transporting marijuana for sale, hit-and-run, possession of drugs and violating his probation, Focha said. He was out of jail Monday on bail, according to jail records.

An initial report indicated that deputies also arrested Raul Leon, 50, of Windsor, suspecting him of misdemeanor obstruction of deputies while they arrested the younger man. Focha on Tuesday said the man hadn't been arrested but deputies were referring the case to the district attorney's office asking that the charge be filed against him.

Focha said deputies found a small container of pills, more than one pound of marijuana and $685 cash inside the suspect's truck. They suspected the money was from drug sales.

Fabbiani-Leon's flat tire apparently came in a hit-and-run crash sometime earlier in the night. Deputies still were investigating that incident, Focha said.