A local newspaper recently published an article about an incident that occurred recently on a New York highway in which two individuals were charged with driving while intoxicated.
An on-duty highway police officer noticed that a vehicle was being driven erratically. After pulling over the vehicle, the police officer gave the driver a series of sobriety tests and concluded that the driver was intoxicated. The officer thereafter started the procedures to arrest the individual and placed him in the police car to be transported to the precinct.
While the intoxicated driver was being placed under arrest, the person in the passenger seat of the vehicle which had been pulled over had moved over to the driver’s seat. The passenger then started the car and drove off.
The officer had noticed initially that both the driver and the passenger were intoxicated when he first pulled the car over. He followed the vehicle for a period of time and soon thereafter pulled over the vehicle which was now being driven by the former passenger.
Upon further investigation, the police officer came to the conclusion that the passenger was also intoxicated and arrested him too.
Conclusion
The moral of this story is that if you are in a vehicle driven by someone else who is intoxicated and you have been drinking as well, do not drive the vehicle away! Ask for help or ask the police officer to call a taxicab for you. There are serious penalties resulting from a conviction for driving while intoxicated.
Should you have any questions or issues involving the crime of driving while intoxicated, feel free to call the DWI defense attorney’s at the Law Offices of Schlissel DeCorpo at 1-800-344-6431, or by email.