UKIAH – On November 14, 2019, the Mendocino County District Attorney’s Office announced the DUI conviction of Ruben Serafin Rosas, 39, of Cloverdale. It took less than 45 minutes for the jury to return the guilty verdict. Rosas was convicted of operating a Harley Davidson motorcycle with an unlawful blood alcohol of .08 or greater, a misdemeanor.
During the noon hour on August 11, 2019, a pilot in a CHP airplane observed a red motorcycle weaving through southbound traffic on Highway 101 between Calpella and Ukiah. The motorcycle was traveling at 93 miles per hour.
A CHP officer in a vehicle waiting at Lake Mendocino Drive then pulled over the motorcycle. When contacting the driver, the CHP officer saw that the motorcycle's operator was exhibiting signs of intoxication.
After the Rosas failed field sobriety tests, a preliminary roadside alcohol detection screen was conducted and indicated the driver's blood alcohol was .10/.099. A later evidentiary alcohol test conducted at the CHP office in Ukiah confirmed a blood alcohol of .09/.09.
The investigating law enforcement agencies were the California Highway Patrol and the California Department of Justice's forensic laboratory in Eureka.
“Numerous counties rely on the expert work conducted by criminalists and senior criminalists at the California Department of Justice,” said Alan Barcelona, president of the California Statewide Law Enforcement Association (CSLEA). “Their work in labs throughout California lead to both convictions and exonerations. Many a cases would remain in limbo if not for their work.”
