New court documents are laying out a timeline of what happened before the DUI arrest of Marco Island Vice Chairman Erik Brechnitz.
On July 26, documents say an officer responded to 5000 Royal Marco Way around 2:15 p.m. for reports of a man passed out behind the wheel. The man was later identified as Brechnitz, 86.
When the officer arrived, he said Brechnitz was being help up by a woman at the driver door. A witness told the officer Brechnitz was "extremely intoxicated."
RELATED: Marco Island Vice Chairman arrested for DUI over the weekend
Other witnesses said Brechnitz was unconscious in the car for an hour and he would not wake up, despite knocking on the window.
The report says the officer could not talk with one witness further because Brechnitz was trying to leave.
In the documents, Brechnitz said he was very tired because he played tennis earlier and took a nap. The officer noted Brechnitz was unsteady on his feet.
The officer, in the report, states they wanted Brechnitz checked out by EMS. The report says Brechnitz then told the officer to "not be stupid," to which the officer told Brechnitz it would be stupid to not get checked out by paramedics. He was evaluated by EMS and refused to go to the hospital, the documents stated.
During the conversation, the officer said Brechnitz had blood-shot watery eyes, slurred speech, seemed very confused and could smell alcohol on his breath.
Documents say Brechnitz kept trying to leave the area, claiming his wife was sick.
The officer asked Brechnitz if he had been drinking. According to the report, Brechnitz said no at first. Then, he said he did drink, but not enough to be drunk.
Documents say the officer asked Brechnitz if he would do a field sobriety test. The report says Brechnitz asked why and that he said he was fine.
The officer explained if Brechnitz said no, the officer would make a decision based on everything in the interaction.
Brechnitz refused again before the officer said he was being arrested for DUI, the report says.
Documents show Brechnitz then agreed, but added it was a waste of time and said "don't you have something better to do?"
The officer performed four different exercises, and documents state Brechnitz had difficulty with them.
Brechnitz was arrested for DUI following the test. In the back of the patrol car, documents say Brechnitz asked the officer to call Marco Island Police Chief Tracy Frazzano several times to "straighten this out."
When they got to the jail, Brechnitz had gone back and forth on giving a breath sample, documents say. When he did agree, two out of the three tests showed a .036, the report says. The legal limit is .08. The initial police report showed Brechnitz had a blood-alcohol level of 0.36. However, a new court document admitted there was a typo in the original report, correcting the blood alcohol content to .036.
The report says Brechnitz then told the officer, "I am going to be talking to Tracy [Chief Frazzano] about how you handled this."
Documents say he was also driving on a suspended license for a non-judgment financial responsibility on July 5, 2024.
Since the arrest, Brechnitz has bonded out of jail.
Brechnitz will have his arraignment on August 21. Records show this is his first DUI.
The City of Marco Island has declined to comment.
