Crime & Safety

Chesterfield Township Burger King Outburst Leads to Man's 10th DUI Arrest

The Macomb Township man was arrested Tuesday night in the 23 Mile and Gratiot area.

An obscenity-laced tirade in a Chesterfield Township drive-thru led to a Macomb Township man's 10th drunken driving arrest, police said Wednesday.

Dennis Thoel, 66, could face up to five years imprisonment if convicted on a felony charge of third-offense operating while intoxicated—the maximum charge for that crime. Thoel was arraigned Wednesday in 42-2 District Court in New Baltimore and held in Macomb County Jail in lieu of a $25,000 cash bond, township police said.

His arrest stems from an incident at 10 p.m. Tuesday in the Burger King drive-thru in the 23 Mile and Gratiot area. Employees at the restaurant reported that Thoel appeared drunk and was yelling vulgarities at them, police said.

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When officers arrived, they spotted him driving a 1997 Chevy pickup northbound in the southbound lanes of Vergote before turning west on 23 Mile and driving erratically, police said.

A field sobriety test resulted in a .20 blood-alcohol level—more than twice the state's legal limit for driving. Thoel's records show that he had nine prior drunken driving convictions dating back to 1976, with the most recent one in 2000, police said.  

Find out what's happening in New Baltimore-Chesterfieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.


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