Student charged with DWI

Trinity sophomore Brittany Anne Hixon, 20, was arrested early Sunday morning by Duke Public Safety and charged with driving while intoxicated and driving after having consumed alcohol under the age of 21, according to an arrest report filed Sunday at the Durham County Magistrate's Office.

Hixon was arrested by Officer John Dailey of Public Safety at approximately 2:45 a.m. Sunday on Flowers Drive behind the Duke South Hospital building. Hixon, who was driving a two-door Honda, was first spotted by Dailey as she was preparing to turn into the traffic circle at the entrance to Wannamaker Drive. At the time, Dailey was turning onto Wannamaker on his way to respond to an unrelated suspicious person call. Dailey said, however, that he was not the primary officer responsible for responding to that call.

In the arrest report, Dailey wrote that as he turned onto Wannamaker, Hixon "was over the double yellow line and almost hit me head on." In an interview Monday evening, Dailey said he was forced to slam on his brakes and swerve to his right to avoid a collision. He said he immediately turned around and proceeded to follow Hixon around the traffic circle and onto Flowers Drive, where he pursued her until he could find an appropriate place to pull her over. According to Dailey's description on the arrest report, Hixon twice crossed the double yellow line on Flowers Drive.

Upon pulling Hixon over to the side of the road, Dailey said he asked her to perform two field sobriety tests, which were witnessed by Sgt. Brad Schlitz of Public Safety at the scene. Hixon failed both tests, the officers said. Dailey then arrested Hixon at the scene and charged her with driving while intoxicated and with driving after having consumed alcohol under the age of 21.

Dailey said that an alkasensor test was not necessary for the arrest. "It was obvious to me that she was impaired," he said. "An alkasensor is usually used if someone is borderline."

Hixon was contacted Monday night but declined to comment on the case.

The second charge of driving after consuming alcohol under the age of 21 falls under a new North Carolina law that went into effect Sept. 15. The law states that a driver under the age of 21 with any amount of drugs or alcohol in his system can be charged with a class two misdemeanor and is subject to arrest for that misdemeanor, as well as for driving while intoxicated. Previously, a driver between the ages of 18 and 20 could only be subject to arrest for underage possession of alcohol or impairment while driving.

After Hixon was arrested, Dailey drove her to the Durham County Magistrate's Office, where a certified city officer tested Hixon's blood alcohol level using a machine called the Intoxilyzer 5000. At that time, Hixon's blood alcohol level was determined to be 0.23 percent. The legal limit for blood alcohol level while driving is 0.08 percent.