Drunk Driver Involved in Injury Collision Resists Officers After Arrest

On Saturday, October 11, 2025, at 2:35 am, Turlock Police responded to a traffic collision in the 400 block of E Main St.

The caller reported that the other involved driver appeared to have been drinking.

When officers arrived on scene, they found two vehicles involved, both 2015 Ford Fusions. The suspect Fusion was white, while the victim Fusion was silver. There were determined to be minor injuries to at least one of the victim vehicle’s occupants, but they declined an ambulance.

Officers made contact with and identified the white Fusion’s driver as Miguel Ortega, 28, of Modesto. While speaking with Ortega, Officer Ruiz noticed that he displayed objective symptoms of being under the influence of alcohol. Ortega participated in standardized field sobriety tests, but performed poorly on them.

Based on the totality of the circumstances, Officer Ruiz determined Ortega was under the influence of alcohol and arrested him. Ortega was issued a driver’s license suspension order, and his vehicle was towed.

Ortega was then given the option of choosing blood or breath for his required chemical sample, but he refused both. As a result, Officer Lawrence authored a search warrant for Ortega’s blood, which was signed by the on-call Stanislaus Superior Court judge.

Officer McCrae then transported Ortega to Doctors Medical Center to serve the search warrant, but he refused to exit the patrol vehicle. As a result of Ortega’s non-compliance, Modesto Police had to respond to the hospital to assist. Ortega’s blood was then forcefully drawn.

Ortega was booked into the Stanislaus County Public Safety Center for driving under the influence of alcohol causing bodily injury and resisting a peace officer.