Hunter
07/08/20
A Chicago man who was charged with OWI early Tuesday after being stopped for speeding on the Coralville Strip was charged again a little over 24 hours later in North Liberty.
Arrest reports indicate that 33-year-old Antoine Irby was called in as a reckless driver and was stopped by officers on the Forevergreen Road ramp to I-80 southbound after he stopped in a construction zone.
Irby allegedly had bloodshot watery eyes and slurred speech. He failed initial field sobriety testing and reportedly refused and argued on the other standardized field sobriety tests. He refused a PBT and Datamaster test.
The report alleges that Irby admitted to drinking too much to drive, but said his child needed milk and he thought it necessary to drive.
The night before at around 1am, Irby was clocked going 57 miles an hour in a 25 mile an hour zone as he was heading eastbound on the Coralville Strip. The officer in that incident says a strong odor of ingested alcohol was coming from Irby, who also had slurred speech. A Solo cup located behind his driver’s seat was determined to contain alcohol.
Officers say that they caught Irby swallowing an unknown substance when they went back to his vehicle after checking his driving record, and he refused to spit it out, washing it down with a breakfast bagel and Gatorade. Paramedics were called but Irby refused treatment. He also refused field sobriety testing.
Irby has a previous OWI from Illinois in 2015.
He was charged with OWI first offense, but faces OWI charges from Tuesday’s incident as well. Adding in the Illinois charge, Wednesday’s incident is a Class D Felony punishable by a prison sentence of up to five years if convicted.