12 May 2013, at approx. 12:05 am, Officers were inside the
Police Department when they heard a loud crash. When they looked
outside, they noticed that a 1995 Ford truck had struck the south/east
corner of the department, damaging the recently remodeled structure.
The driver then drove off southbound on South Green Street.
Officers were able to catch the vehicle and stop it on Stockton Road,
near West Bradford. Officers contacted the driver who as identified as
Steven Lavine 59 of Sonora.
Lavine asked the officers if they didn’t have anything else
better to do, like chase criminals. When asked to perform field sobriety
tests, Lavine replied he was too intoxicated to try the tests. A
preliminary alcohol screening test showed Lavine’s blood alcohol level
to be almost three times the legal limit.
Lavine was taken into custody without incident. He was
transported to the Tuolumne County Jail and booked for misdemeanor
driving under the influence and misdemeanor hit and run.
