IC Police: Restaurant owner arrested for OWI claimed dish-washing caused him to smell of alcohol

Hunter
01/16/20

Iowa City Police say a restaurant owner arrested for drunk driving claimed he smelled of ingested alcohol because he had just been washing dishes.

According to police, they stopped 54-year-old Daniel Ouverson of Black Springs Circle just after 12:30am Thursday near the intersection of South Clinton and East Benton street for having a non-functioning center brake light and for failing to obey a traffic control device.

Ouverson is reported to have had thick slurred speech, bloodshot watery eyes and the odor of ingested alcohol when contacted. He allegedly said that he was coming from The Mill, where he and his staff had been having a holiday party.

Police say Ouverson denied having anything to drink and said he smelled of ingested alcohol because he had been washing dishes. He agreed to testing which allegedly showed signs of impairment, but refused to participate in more physical tests due to having back surgery in the past.

Ouverson refused PBT, Datamaster blood and urine testing. He was taken into custody, charged with first offense Operating while Under The Influence, a serious misdemeanor punishable by a jail sentence of up to one year if convicted.