The man who struck six cars in a parking lot in the Castle Point Apartment complex early Sunday morning was arrested for DUI refusal, police said Monday.
Carlos Q. Cedillo, 23, of South Bend has not been officially charged, St. Joseph County Police spokesperson Jaimee Thirion said in an e-mail Monday. The preliminary charge, declining a Breathalyzer test - which Cedillo did after driving his car into six unoccupied, legally parked vehicles early Sunday - is a misdemeanor offense.
Cedillo is listed as a student in Holy Cross College's 2006-07 telephone directory. In the 2005-06 telephone directory, Cedillo's address is listed as Basil Residence Hall.
Since Thirion provided information by e-mail and was unable for further comment, The Observer was unable to ask follow-up questions regarding Cedillo's background.
Holy Cross Director of Marketing and Public Relations Sara Kassen declined to comment on whether Cedillo was a student at the College. Holy Cross issued a statement regarding the incident:
"We have not received any report of an accident over the weekend involving any of our students. Holy Cross College always follows up on any knowledge of or any concerns regarding the student safety or violation of a student code. Any violation of state, local or federal law constitutes a violation of our student code and Holy Cross does exercise off campus jurisdiction."
Tory Mitchell, who took over this year as director of Basil Residence Hall at Holy Cross, said Cedillo was never a resident under his direction. He said, however, he had heard the name before.
"I believe he was a student here, or is," Mitchell said.
The Observer was unable to confirm whether Cedillo currently lives in Castle Point. His local address is not listed in the Holy Cross directory, and Judy Logan, manager of Castle Point Apartments, declined to comment on the incident.
On Sunday morning, Cedillo "was driving his Lincoln Navigator west in the Castle Point Apartment Complex near 1309 Coachmans Trail when he drove off to the north part of the lot and struck six vehicles," Thirion said.
At least three of the cars belonged to Notre Dame and Saint Mary's students.
Rachel Davis, 26, a Castle Point resident who witnessed the incident, said Sunday she woke up between 4:20 a.m. and 4:30 to the sound of Cedillo's car crashing into her car and five other cars in the lot.
Davis called the police and said they arrived within two minutes. She said three St. Joseph County Police cars and one Roseland police car were at the scene.
The police at the scene told her the man in the car was intoxicated, Davis said. They also told her he lived in the Enchanted Forest section of Castle Point, she said, but she did not recognize him.
Thirion said Cedillo was released from the St. Joseph County Jail on a $500 cash bond and is due to appear in court on Feb. 12.
