Three Sisters Go Drinking

By Teya Vitu, Appeal staff writer

Sisters Sandy McCleary, Paula Tlachac and Toni Brazil were among six volunteers who served as subjects for sobriety tests so law enforcement officers could be trained at the POST Academy. The volunteers had about two hours to get sauced up with alcohol. Six groups of three or four officers performed sobriety tests on each sister and the other three drinkers during a one-and-a-half hour period. All six drinkers were driven home aboard a Nevada State Motor Pool bus.

Toni Brazil

Retired investigator from state Welfare Division

Drink of choice: Sea Breeze (vodka, cranberry juice, grapefruit juice)

How much: 10-1/2 ounces of alcohol (10 drinks)

Blood alcohol level: .084 prior to sobriety tests, .101 after tests

Sobriety test results: All six groups of deputies and police officers would have arrested Brazil on suspicion of DUI had she been driving. She repeatedly failed all three field sobriety tests: horizontal gaze nystagmus test (moving eyes from side to side and up and down), walk and turn, and one leg stand.

Paula Tlachac

Employment training worker in state Welfare Division

Drink of choice: margarita

How much: 6-1/2 ounces of alcohol (6 drinks)

Blood alcohol level: .048 prior to tests, .024 after tests

Sobriety test results: No group found cause to arrest her but each would have offered her a ride home had she been pulled over.

Sandy McCleary

Administrative assistant at Northern Nevada Development Authority

Drink of choice: margarita

How much: 8-1/2 ounces of alcohol (8 drinks)

Blood alcohol level: .057 prior to tests, .044 after tests

Sobriety test results: The first two groups of officers would have arrested her. The following four groups did not find enough probable cause to arrest. The POST instructor accompanying McCleary said the groups arresting her were mistaken.

Note: A blood alcohol level of .10 is considered legally under the influence of alcohol in Nevada. The level is .08 in California. Drivers may be arrested for DUI even with a blood alcohol level as low as .05 or .06 if a law enforcement officers believes the driver is impaired by alcohol.