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Erica Mazzo, 27, was charged with operating under the influence, operating an unregistered motor vehicle, possession of drug paraphernalia, using a cellphone while driving, distracted driving, reckless driving and possession of less than a half ounce of marijuana. She posted $7,500 bond and will appear in court April 21.
Officers responded to Fillow Street just before 2 a.m. Sunday on a report of a car that had veered off the road and hit a utility pole. When officers arrived, they found Mazzo walking around the car and yelling, police said. She told police that she had been texting while driving and hit the pole, according to police reports.
Officers noticed that she smelled of alcohol, had difficulty standing and her speech was slurred, police said. They also smelled burnt marijuana, and officers could see in her car a glass pipe on the floor, a wooden box, another pipe painted to look like a cigarette, and several hand-rolled cigarettes and joint roaches in the ashtray, according to police reports.
Officers began to perform a field sobriety test, but EMS arrived and took her to Norwalk Hospital, where she was evaluated for an injury to her arm, police said.
Officers went to the hospital to speak with Mazzo and heard her yelling at emergency room staff, according to police reports. She said she had smoked some marijuana and had three drinks at a bar, but that it did not affect her driving and she hit the pole because she was texting, according to police. She was also verbally combative with officers, police said.
Police said the accident scene indicated she had been driving above the posted speed limit, and said that if she had not hit the pole she likely would have driven into a house 20 yards away.
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