ICE takes custody of Lynn man

LYNN – Immigration officials took a man living in Lynn into custody on Tuesday after Nahant Police found the suspect passed out in his car and discovered that he had prior arrests for drunken driving and was living in the country illegally.”We got a call for a man passed out behind the wheel, but didn’t have enough to charge them with (operating under the influence),” said Nahant Police Officer Timothy Furlong on Wednesday. “But running fingerprints came back with an alias and multiple warrants including an immigration violation.”David Moises Lopez, 23, of 182 Chestnut St., Lynn, was arrested and charged with possession of an open container of alcohol in a motor vehicle at 3:18 a.m. Tuesday as well as failing to appear for three Lynn District Court warrants, according to the Nahant police report included in the court documents. His FBI Identification Record includes two previous operating under the influence (OUI) charges in Lynn in December 2006 and August 2011, and one OUI charge in Marblehead in 2008.According to the Marblehead Police report, a witness following Lopez saw him drive over at least one traffic island in Swampscott, and Marblehead Police Sergeant Jason Conrad observed Lopez’ vehicle “swerving drastically onto the inbound sidewalk, then back into the lane of travel.” When Conrad stopped an MBTA bus traveling in front of Lopez’ vehicle, according to the report, the suspect tried to put the standard transmission into gear and drive away. The report notes that, meanwhile, the suspect was “holding a Tecate brand beer, half full, in his left hand.”Lopez’ record also includes several charges of unlicensed operation of a car, leaving the scene of property damage in addition to a charge of alien inadmissability under Section 212 by border patrol in Olmito, Texas in 2005. Officer Armand Conti of the Nahant Police explained that this means the suspect was in the country illegally.According to the police report by Furlong, Lopez was found asleep in the driver’s seat of a tan motor vehicle early Tuesday morning in Nahant. A six pack of Corona Extra beer with two full beers remaining was within reaching distance of the driver, the report notes. Furlong wrote that when awakened, the suspect said he had no license or identification and admitted to drinking “two beers.”But the police report indicates that the suspect was confused.”I then asked Mr. Lopez how he had gotten here this evening, to which he replied, ?I’m going home, to Chestnut Street,” according to the report. “As Mr. Lopez stated this to me, he pointed up Ocean Street towards Marginal Road.””Mr. Lopez then stated that he was just going up the street to his house in Lynn,” the report continues.”I then informed Mr. Lopez that he was in Nahant, not Lynn, which he briefly debated me on. Mr. Lopez was adamant that he was in Lynn and he just wanted to go home.”Lopez repeatedly denied that he had driven to Nahant, according to the report, which notes that Lopez “was swaying back and forth, and kept placing his left hand on the trunk of the vehicle for brace and support.”Furlong wrote that he placed Lopez in handcuffs to be placed in protective custody due to his apparent intoxication. The report notes that Furlong believed that there was not sufficient evidence to charge Lopez with operating under the influence as no party had seen him driving and the key was on the passenger’s seat.But the eight previous arrest charges were discovered when officers ran his fingerprints during booking.Lopez was transported to Lynn District Court Tuesday morning and was arraigned on the charges from the Marblehead incident, which include operating under the influence of liquor, negligent operation of a motor vehicle, possession of an open container of alcohol in a vehicle and unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, according to the court documents. Judge James Wexler ordered $3,000 cash bail and Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials took Lopez into custody after the arraignment, a