Troy, Birmingham Police Use Leaking Fluid to Track Drunken Driver

A trail of leaking fluid led Birmingham and Troy police officers straight to a man who is now being charged with operating while intoxicated and hitting a parked car.

The incident began after a car parked on the 2300 block of Derby in Birmingham was hit around 12:35 a.m. last Saturday, police say. The owner of the parked car later told police they saw the car that hit theirs flee the scene.

When Birmingham Police arrived on the scene, they followed a trail of leaking fluid until they discovered the suspect vehicle traveling northbound on Coolidge in the southbound lane.

Troy Police were advised of the situation, and Troy officers later tracked down the car, stopping it at Square Lake and Rochester Road. The driver, a 42-year-old man from Livonia, was taken into Troy custody on drunken driving charges. The man also faces charges in Birmingham of leaving the scene of an accident.

This isn't the first time Birmingham police have used leaking fluid to find hit-and-run culprits. In early August, police tracked a car seen hitting a parked car from Wimbleton to the corner of North Eton and Derby using leaking fluid.