WINONA, Minn. – Why Michael Timothy Patano, 20, of Winona, didn’t turn his headlights on to drive home at 1:50 a.m. is a mystery perhaps even to him. But they weren’t on, and a police officer decided to pull him over. When the officer made contact, he noticed bloodshot, watery eyes and that Patano smelled like a gin mill. Patano admitted to drinking two beers earlier in the night, maybe more. He failed a field-sobriety test on the spot. His inebriation was confirmed at the jailhouse, where a more sophisticated test registered his blood-alcohol at .10%. The law allows only .08%. He was referred for drunken-driving. The arrest was at Fifth and Washington downtown.
