PUBLISHED: Friday, September 14, 2007
Driver facing 8th DWI in country illegally


By Michael P. McConnell
Daily Tribune Staff Writer

FERNDALE -- A man in Ferndale facing his eighth drunken driving charge is also wanted by the Department of Homeland Security for failing to report to officials there as scheduled, according to a court report.

Salwan Brihko, 44, of West Bloomfield Township, is in this country illegally and was supposed to be reporting every three months to Homeland Security officials, according to a pre-trial services report.

However, the U.S. is not returning any illegal immigrants to Iraq at this point because of the war, the report said.

Ferndale 43rd District Judge Joseph Longo refused to lower Brihko's $505,000 bond at a hearing Thursday.

"There is a detainer on him from Homeland Security," Longo said. "The point of bail is moot."

Brihko waived his right to a preliminary examination Thursday on a felony charge of driving while intoxicated three or more times, and was ordered to stand trial in Oakland County Circuit Court.

Brihko could be sentenced up to five years in prison if convicted.

He already has at least seven drunken driving convictions, which prosecutors say he racked up between 1984 and 2004.

Brihko was sentenced to a year in jail after each of his last two drunken driving convictions.

Additionally, Brihko's driving license has been suspended since 1985, police said.

Oakland County Assistant Prosecutor Karie Miller said a concerned citizen called Ferndale police Sept. 3 to report the suspect driving drunk and police arrested him a short time later on southbound Woodward Avenue.

Police said Brihko was speeding and swerving in the car he was driving and refused to take a Breathalyzer test after his arrest, though a preliminary test showed he had a blood-alcohol level more than twice the legal limit.

"He hasn't learned and he's putting people in danger," Miller said. "It's our hope he serves the maximum sentence on this charge. I think it's valid that he does prison time."

Contact Michael P. McConnell at mike.mcconnell@dailytribune.com or at (24 591-2571.

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