ELYRIA — An Amherst man who drove drunk over the weekend called police to turn himself in, explaining that he needed somewhere to stay for the night.

Hubbell

James Hubbell, 64, was arrested for drunken driving and failure to maintain physical control after he called the Sheriff’s Office to let deputies know he was driving and had been drinking. He told a dispatcher he needed a place to stay for the night, so he was driving to the Lorain County Sheriff’s Office, a report said.

Listen to Hubbell’s 911 call. (WARNING: VERY STRONG LANGUAGE.)

A deputy who was at the station working on another report walked out to the parking lot, where he saw a tan pickup truck driving through the grass at the Health District offices next door.

Hubbell exited the 2002 Ford Ranger and “had a strong odor of intoxicants … and heavy slurred speech,” the report said.

Hubbell was asked to perform several field sobriety tests, which he failed.

As another test was about to be administered, Hubbell told the deputy, “No am drunk arrest me am not doing anymore tests,” the report said.

Hubbell refused a breath test.

He pleaded not guilty this morning in Elyria Municipal Court. He has a pretrial set for Aug. 31.

LORAIN — Police arrested two people and are looking for a third following a fight Tuesday night at the Lake Motel, 3917 West Erie Ave.

Joseph Aldridge, 29, and Rodney White, 27, both of Lorain were both arrested. According to the report, officers are still looking for a dark-skinned black male 5-feet-10 and 195 pounds. He was last seen wearing gray pants and no shirt.

According to a Lorain police report, officers were called to the motel about 10:20 p.m. Callers reported multiple people were fighting and one of them had a gun.

Officers arrived to find the subjects who were fighting had fled the scene, a police report said.

Officers noticed a group of people standing in a driveway at 3910 West Erie and approached them only to have one man, later identified as Aldridge, flee.

Officers chasing him noticed an “unknown black item” in his right hand and demanded he stop, at which point he “squared off” with officers. Officers apprehended him after Tasering him. He was taken to Community Regional Medical Center to have the Taser darts removed, the police report said. Officers wound up recovering a bag containing a “green leafy matter” weighing 5.3 grams from Aldrige.

In the meantime, White was “verbally assaulting” officers, the report said.

Once officers had the situation under control, they met up with original complainant, a 28-year-old woman, who told them she walked from across the street to purchase a cigarette at the Lake Motel.

As she walked through the parking lot, she told officers a black male made sexual advances toward her, eventually pulling on her arm and telling her to go to his room.

She said she fled back to her apartment, and her fiance and another male returned to the motel to confront the man who had approached her.

She said the man then punched her fiance, then walked to his vehicle and pulled out a gun.

Motel manager Vinu Patel told officers that the woman and three males arrived at the motel carrying baseball bats and began beating on the door of several rooms. Witnesses said they didn’t see a weapon other than the bats and fists flying.

ELYRIA TWP. — Firefighters put out a fire at a vacant home on Samuel Street this morning.

The fire, reported a little after 11 a.m. was at 42000 Samuel, which was boarded up and vacant, according to neighbors.

According to Elyria Assistant Fire Chief Ron Brlas, the house had been the scene of a previous fire, which is why it was boarded up. He didn’t know when that fire was.

The Elyria Fire Department responded, as all of Samuel Street except for 42000 appears to be in the city. 42000 is actually in Elyria Township, and the Elyria Township Fire Department was later called out.

According to Brlas, the fire seemed to start in the kitchen and traveled up an interior wall to the home’s attic, where it ignited debris.

He said smoke was showing when firefighters arrived, and they had the fire out in about 10 to 15 minutes.

Brlas said the fire investigation has been turned over to the Elyria Township Fire Department.

Since the house is vacant and has no utilities connected, however, he acknowledged it “opens up the suspicion” that the fire might have been intentionally set. He said there was “nothing visible right off hand” to indicate the fire was arson.

Brlas said that because the house had burned before and was boarded up and vacant, establishing a damage estimate for this fire would be difficult.

ELYRIA — A Lakewood man arrested after leading Wal-Mart security and Elyria police on a chase Wednesday night, had already been successful in pulling off the same stunt at the Chestnut Commons Wal-Mart, according to an Elyria police report.

Regis Ferron, 35, was charged with theft, possession of criminal tools, obstructing official business and resisting arrest for the Midway Wal-Mart incident. He also had an outstanding warrant from Avon police, a police report released yesterday said.

In that incident, he had loaded up his shopping cart with cat food, various grocery items and a computer and then walked out of Wal-Mart.

According to a police report released today, an asset protection associate from the Chestnut Commons Wal-Mart went to the Elyria police station last night to report a similar incident from the night before.

According to the report, a man — later identified as Ferron — entered the Chestnut Commons Wal-Mart through the grocery entrance, where he selected several items, including fruit juice, beer and laundry soap. He then went to the shoe department, and put a pair of work boots in his cart.

Next he went to the electronics department and placed a 47-inch LG HDTV in his shopping cart before entering the sporting goods department and cutting the security wrap off the TV.

In the Midway Wal-Mart incident, Ferron was observed by store security pushing a shopping cart with a large computer in it around the store. He then entered the infant department and used needle-nosed pliers to cut the security device off the computer. He wrapped the security device in towels and placed it on a shelf.

At the Chestnut Commons Wal-Mart, Ferron ignored a greeter who asked for a receipt as he left the store and fled with the car full of unpaid merchandise, according to the police report.

According to the report, he put the TV in a maroon minivan and fled the area, leaving the rest of the merchandise in the cart in the parking lot.

The report listed the total merchandise value at $910.68.

According to the report, Ferron was arrested shortly after the Chestnut Commons incident following a chase near the Midway Mall Wal-Mart.