Liam Ridgewell_Lake Oswego Court.JPG

Portland Timbers defender Liam Ridgewell (right) appears in Lake Oswego City Hall with his attorney Sean Riddell on Dec. 7, 2016 for a court hearing to suppress evidence related to an October 2016 crash involving a teammate. Ridgewell is accused of driving under the influence of intoxicants after police say he drove drunk to the Lake Oswego crash scene after the teammate got into a collision while also driving drunk.

(Everton Bailey Jr./The Oregonian)

Timbers player Liam Ridgewell flew in from England to make a court appearance Wednesday in Lake Oswego as his lawyers argued to throw out field sobriety tests that led to his arrest in October on a drunken driving charge.

Ridgewell didn't testify during the 2 1/2-hour hearing in Municipal Court and planned to fly back to London later, his lawyer said.

At issue is whether Ridgewell, 32, could have left the scene before an officer gave him the sobriety test that police said he subsequently failed.

Ridgewell, the soccer team's captain, told police that he was driving home Oct. 24 when he saw the damaged BMW sedan of a Timbers teammate, goalkeeper Jake Gleeson, and stopped to help. Gleeson had rear-ended another car.

Lake Oswego Police Officer James Euscher had responded to the scene a little after 10:30 p.m. and was wearing a recorder at the time. Audio and dash cam video played in court shows that Euscher told a supervisor about three minutes after arriving that he didn't think Ridgewell witnessed the crash and planned to "probably send him on his way right now."

But Euscher testified that didn't happen because the supervisor told him to help another officer question Gleeson at the scene.

Ridgewell waited around and was questioned for about another 10 minutes when Euscher asked him to perform an eye test to determine if he could drive home.

"Sure, no problem," Ridgewell told Euscher, according to the recording.

Ridgewell's attorneys argued that once Euscher expressed his intention to send Ridgewell on his way, police should have made it clear to Ridgewell that he could leave. All evidence received after the supervisor call should be suppressed, they said.

The officer had also told Ridgewell minutes before testing him that he couldn't smell any alcohol on him and didn't witness him driving to the scene, they said. While being cross-examined, Euscher said at least three times that he didn't have legal authority to continue detaining Ridgewell before he asked the soccer player to participate in field sobriety tests.

Lake Oswego Deputy City Attorney Jerry Seeberger said police gave both Ridgewell and Gleeson field sobriety tests after both admitted to drinking alcohol at a Lake Oswego bar sometime that day before the crash. In light of the admissions, it was a "reasonable request" for Euscher to test Ridgewell, he said.

Because the test was voluntary and Ridgewell agreed to participate, all evidence the officers obtained is legal, Seeberger said.

The prosecutor said the officers had no legal obligation that he knew of to tell Ridgewell that he was free to go when they learned more about his actions.

"It was merely an excess of caution when the officer asked him to participate in that test," Seeberger said.

But defense attorney Sean Riddell countered that the audio shows Euscher suggested Ridgewell call someone to pick him up, but never gave him a chance to make the call and then asked about testing. Any "reasonable person" would have been under the impression that they would be allowed to call someone if they took and failed the test, Riddell said.

"It's a bargain, it's not consent," Riddell said. "It's contingent on something and he's led to believe that's he's going to be able to call a friend if he gives consent."

Judge William Bruce Shepley said he would need about a week to make a ruling on the defense's motion to suppress evidence.

Gleeson, 26, pleaded no contest last month to driving under the influence of intoxicants and reckless driving. He also pleaded guilty to refusing to take a breath test. He was allowed to enter a one-year alcohol diversion program.

Ridgewell agreed to waive his option to also be allowed to enter the diversion program to proceed with the motion hearing. The program is offered to first-time offenders.

According to the audio recordings, Gleeson told police he had six beers that day at Hop N Cork, a Lake Oswego bar. The female driver he hit worked at the bar, he said. She left the scene before police arrived.

Ridgewell at first told Euscher he hadn't been drinking and didn't know if his teammate had drank alcohol either. He later told the officer that he and Gleeson had been golfing and went to the Lake Oswego bar to get food and drinks.

"Personally, I don't think [Gleeson] was too intoxicated for that to have happened," Ridgewell told Euscher in reference to the crash.

-- Everton Bailey Jr.

ebailey@oregonian.com

503-221-8343; @EvertonBailey