DUI Stories

[Platapus]

Florida (where else?)

Florida man didn't drink while driving, only while stopped at traffic lights



ERO BEACH, Fla. - A Florida man stopped for drunk driving denies he was actually drinking while driving, claiming he only drank while he was stopped at traffic signals and stop signs. Earle Gustavas Stevens of Vero Beach was approached on June 27 by a police officer after a woman called 911 saying he had hit her bumper numerous times while waiting in a McDonald's drive-thru lane.
https://bobcat.grahamdigital.com/image/upload/view?width=640&height=360&method=crop&url=https://media.local10.com/photo/2018/07/10/Earle%20Gustavas%20Stevens%20New_1531248071863.jpg _12346561_ver1.0_640_360.jpg (https://www.local10.com/news/florida/florida-dui-suspect-claims-dog-was-driving-car-not-him)





The Smoking Gun (http://thesmokinggun.com/documents/drunk/vero-beach-jim-beam-285073) reports Stevens smelled of alcohol and was slurring his words, according to the officer.
A bottle of Jim Beam was sitting in the passengers seat next to Stevens, and he admitted he had been drinking.
But when pressed if he was drinking while driving, Stevens said no.
“He further explained that he was not drinking while the car was moving and only when he stopped for stop signs and traffic signals.” the officer wrote in the report.
Stevens was arrested and charged with drunk driving and driving without a license.This is why it is not called drinking and driving, but driving under the influence. Nice try, but not as innovative as another Floridian


Florida DUI suspect claims dog was driving car, not him





PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. - A Florida man has raised the bar when it comes to the old "the dog ate my homework" excuse.
Scott Garrett was pulled over for driving erratically on I-95 outside Port St. Lucie last month, according to The Smoking Gun (http://www.thesmokinggun.com/buster/dogs/pin-it-on-the-pooch-198753).

(https://www.local10.com/news/florida/monroe-county/drunk-florida-mom-leaves-child-in-keys-bar-then-things-got-much-worse)



https://bobcat.grahamdigital.com/image/upload/view?width=640&height=360&method=crop&url=https://media.local10.com/photo/2018/07/05/Scott%20Garrett%20DUI_1530812376722.jpg_12316315_v er1.0_640_360.jpg




When officers detected the smell of alcohol coming from the car, Garrett claimed he wasn't driving the car, his dog was.


However, the excuse didn't fool anyone as his "red, very glassy, and blood shot eyes" and the bottle of alcohol in the passenger's seat pretty gave him away.



Oh, and there was no actual dog in the car.



Garrett asked officers for a ride home. Instead, they gave him a ride to jail where he was charged with drunk driving.If you are going to try the ol' "the dog was driving" defense, you might want to have a dog in the car. Might help the story.


I would say that there must be something in the water, but evidently these citizens did not spend a lot of time drinking water.

[Eichhörnchen]

If you are going to try the ol' "the dog was driving" defense, you might want to have a dog in the car. Might help the story.

I would say that there must be something in the water, but evidently these citizens did not spend a lot of time drinking water.

:har::har::har:

[Rockstar]

Its not the water., it's Florida. What can go wrong?


https://www.cnn.com/2015/08/22/us/florida-shooting-range-restaurant-alcohol-feat/index.html


https://worldwideinterweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/floridatacobellcom.jpg

[Catfish]

^^ :haha:

@Rockstar Well when they allow guns in bars, where's the difference? :hmmm:
I guess a shooting range is even better controlled, than a public drinking place?

[Jimbuna]

Much clearer in the UK, driving or not, if you're in charge of said vehicle....that's good enough.

[Commander Wallace]

I had a friend when we were both in college who was big into parties. He was pretty responsible though. One evening, he was at a party. Deciding to be responsible, my friend rode a bicycle home and left his car at the party. On the way home, a police officer pulled him over and after determining that he had been drinking, charged him with DUI. He told me the punishment was just as bad as if he had been driving a car.


Another individual from a neighboring community decided to drive his garden tractor to the store 2 miles away to get a pack of cigarettes. He was also very intoxicated and was also stopped and arrested. He also faced stiff penalties for being charged with a DUI.

[Platapus]

He should have just ridden a horse.

Or maybe not

DUI on a horse: Florida woman arrested after riding on busy road



A Polk County (http://www.orlandosentinel.com/topic/metro-orlando/polk-county-ORLS0033-topic.html) woman was arrested Thursday afternoon on a charge of drunk driving on a horse named Boduke.


Donna Byrne, 53, smelled of alcohol, staggered and had red, watery eyes when deputies pulled her over on the busy road, Polk County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Brian Bruchey said.


A passer-by had called about a woman who appeared confused and was riding a horse on Combee Road near North Crystal Lake Road in Lakeland about 1:40 p.m., he said.


Byrne’s breath-alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit, Bruchey said. She was arrested on charges of driving under the influence and animal neglect, a misdemeanor.


Boduke was hitched to a deputy’s patrol car and ate grass until being taken to the Polk County Sheriff’s Animal Control livestock facility.


The Polk County Sheriff’s Office said it takes the situation seriously.
“Ms. Byrne was obviously not in any condition to be on the road. She not only put herself and the horse in danger, but also anyone who was driving on the road, which is typically very busy,” Sheriff Grady Judd said.


She has previously been arrested on five felony and 10 misdemeanor charges, including cruelty to animals and drug possession, Bruchey said.
Boduke will most likely be returned to Byrne, he said. However, the sheriff could fight to keep her from getting Boduke back.


Judd is embroiled in a court battle to prevent another owner charged with animal cruelty from getting their animals back, Bruchey said.


http://www.trbimg.com/img-59fc740f/turbine/os-1509717004-91i3s5w0ag-snap-image/414/414x233


BTW, that's a photograph of the lady, not the horse.

[Sailor Steve]

Back in the early 1980s, when I was driving skiers from Salt Lake Airport to the nearby resorts, I picked up a group from the last flight in, which was around midnight. After I dropped them off in Park City I stopped at the local 7-11. The parking lot was full so I had to park on the street, which at that time was fairly fast and fairly empty, especially at One in the morning. I was inside eating a burrito and drinking a Doctor Pepper (of course), and talking to the clerk when a guy walked in and asked "Is that your van?"

When I asked "Which van?" he replied "The one that just got hit."

I went outside to find a small white car with its hood (bonnet for our British friends) buried under the back of my van, all the way up to the windshield. A girl who looked to be barely drinking age came up to me crying and kept saying "I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

When a cop showed up he saw my uniform shirt, so he figured the van was mine and talked to the girl first. I have no idea what the outcome of that conversation was, but after awhile he came over to me and in a deep, hard "official" voice said "I need to ask you a couple of questions. First, were you wearing your seat belt at the time of the accident?"

Putting on what I imagined to be my best Arlo Guthrie voice I replied "In all honesty, officer, I'm going to have to answer that in the negative."

"You weren't?" he asked. "Why not?"

"Because I wasn't in the van when the accident happened."

He gave me a strange look and his voice got even more official as he asked "Where were you?"

"I was inside the 7-11."

His voice jumped two octaves and cracked when he said "WHAT?!"

I said "That's right officer. It seems this poor girl managed to park her car underneath my van with no help from me at all."

He snapped his book shut and his voice got all official again as he sternly said "Well then, I guess I don't need to ask you any more questions!"

And that was my only encounter ever with a drunk driver.

[Jimbuna]

He should have just ridden a horse.

Or maybe not



A similar experience: Two of us in a patrol car received a radio message to attend an area in the city of Newcastle after reports of someone riding a horse in an erratic manner on a main road.

Sure enough, upon arrival there was the guy riding a horse in the middle of the road, holding up traffic. His breath smelled of intoxicating liquor and his speech was slightly slurred so I put him in the back of the patrol car and my partner said he felt stupid holding onto the reigns of a horse on a public street and having experience at horse riding he decided to mount the animal and ride it the mile or so to the station.

Boy was he in trouble when the shift inspector found out.

[fireftr18]

While on the fire department, one evening, we made and emergency medical run. A bicycle hit by a car. We got there, sure enough, there was a mangled bicycle with an injured rider. We asked about the car. There wasn't one. It was two bikes that wrecked into each other at an intersection. Both riders were drunk.
:Kaleun_Cheers:

[Aktungbby]

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showpost.php?p=2412132&postcount=788 (http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showpost.php?p=2412132&postcount=788) That is the first rule of defensive driving and nothing in 42 years of getting paid for being behind the wheel has altered my conclusion. Including last night while out on a work call! While returning home late, a vehicle driving erratically in excess of 70 mph in the dark was showering huge sparks for a hundred feet and wobbling badly. As I attempted to pass I noted a young lady with no front left tyre-just the bare rim causing the spark shower! oddly a '05 Corolla exactly like mine- with front wheel drive! I turned on the interior dome-lite- got her attention and motioned her to the shoulder of a busy highway, pulled in behind, and called 911. She was quite upset, crying and incoherent-out of all proportion to a routine flat tyre problem IMHO. After nearly an hour detainment-making sure she did not exit her vehicle on a hazardous roadside, the CHP arrived. Two young officers: they field tested, breathalysed and handcuffed the young lass. The DUI will seem a light case and the lesser of two evils: she would have killed herself or others within a few more miles at that speed on a badly disintegrated rim. The roadway in that area, until a recent just completed and costly renovation, was called Blood Alley.


Well the wheels of justice took their time but the young lady finally got her day in court today(13 months later) before a jury of her peers! Both the defense and prosecution subpoenaed me for the prelim and the 2-day trial and I got to hear the recording of my call to 911 ( Squeaky me: I should join the Vienna boy's choir) from over a year ago. Basically I prevented both a major canyon fire (bone dry windy conditions with all fire signs in the RED) and a head-on collision from a missing LEFT front tire on a rapidly disintegrating left front rim. The chase at 70+ mph was over 4 miles! I still don't know the verdict, as I left immediately after testifying. As the only witness and essentially the 'detaining officer', the judge, both attorney's thanked me; as did the CHP officer "for a great night" and, surprisingly, also the mother and the young lady on trial-apparently she is an only daughter....:shucks: EDIT: AFTER THREE MONTHS' INTERVAL, I CALLED THE DEFENSE INVESTIGATOR: THE YOUNG LASS HAD BEEN CONVICTED ON TWO COUNTS REALATED TO DUI ISSUES. __________________

[Commander Wallace]

^ Hopefully it ended well for the lass as perhaps she learned a great lesson in not driving as she did. The lass did something stupid but that can usually be corrected. :yep:

[Gargamel]

I used to work with an Amish guy. He would regale us with stories from his community. He was once told us he was pulled over for speeding, in a buggy. That led to the can you get a DUI charge? He told us about a guy who was drunk enough that he passed out while 'driving' home. The horse knew where home was, and continued on without incident. Until it ran right through a stop sign, in front of a cop. The cop started to follow the buggy. Shortly there after, the horse got hungry and stopped along the side of the road to eat some bushes. That's when the cop got out to investigate.



One night, back when I was a medic, we were called to a scene to check out a couple guys who had been involved in a wreck. The trooper had them in cuffs sitting in the back of his car. He informed us that they were both drunk and were both being charged with DUI.



We asked how they both could be charged with DUI, and he said he had been following the car for a short while, when it ran off the road, into a ditch, and back out again. At this point the passenger hopped out, pulled the driver into the passenger seat, ran around the car, hopped in, and drove off, just as the cop was walking up to the car. Cop hopped back in his car and gave chase, which the car quickly pulled over, they never even saw the cop. The were both drunk off their ass, and since both had been driving, they were both getting charged.

[Armistead]

Friend and I left a bar probably around 12, we'd only had a few beers, but smoked a joint or two as the night passed. When I pulled out of the club lot, I got my nose a lil far into the road and it was either back up for the car coming or gun it and go. I decided to gun it. The car coming was the Highway Patrol. I went up the side road, crossed the bridge over the highway and got on the highway. My friend looking back said he saw the patrolman crossing the bridge, so I sped up and took an exit heading to another town and got way ahead. We saw headlights like a few miles back coming fast. He had a big bag of pot and we argued a few seconds and he finally tossed it out the window. Seem like only a few seconds and the patrolman was on my tail. He followed me a few miles and I was careful not to make a mistake and he finally took an exit and went back the other way. We drove a few miles to the next exit and instead of going another way, headed back down the highway. My friend wanted to go see if we could come back around and find his bag of pot he threw out the window. We got a few miles and ..ug, passed the same patrolman now sitting on the side of the road. He followed again and I was careful again, but this time blue lights and pulled over. I did get arrested, but didn't blow the limit then at the station.

[Akinsu81]

Uh! That is still the same, right? It is called drunk driving only. It can be dangerous for people around him. I hope he picked up a good DUI lawyer (http://www.duilawyerlosangeles.com/) to get him out because this isn’t a reason. You cannot stop at lights, drink and deny the fact that you were drunk driving.

[Sean C]

About 20 years ago I was at a friend's house late at night when he decided we should go to my house to retrieve a VHS tape I had of a comedy routine he liked. We had both had [quite] a few drinks, so his girlfriend convinced us we should walk instead of driving. (It wasn't very far.)


On the way back we were walking in the median of a divided highway when a car pulled in behind us, which was odd because we weren't near an intersection. Then came the unmistakable blue and red flashing lights.


The officer approached us and my friend immediately blurted out that he had been drinking and was under the legal age of 21. "Great", I thought. Now I'm going to be charged with "contributing to the delinquency of a minor" in addition to being "drunk in public". The officer asked for our IDs and when I tried to hand him mine, I fell over into the ditch. (Did I mention that I had QUITE a few drinks?)


The officer asked us to step into the back of his cruiser. I was sure I would be spending the night in jail. ... Nope. He took us back to my friend's house and told us to "Be safe." I think he was satisfied that we had followed the advice of my friend's girlfriend and decided not to drive.


I'm not proud of it, but I've had more than a couple run-ins with the law. But thankfully, honesty and common sense has gotten me out of many a sticky situation. (I have a few other stories which might blow your mind, too.)


:D

[Reece]

I would have thrown the book at you and locked you up!! :nope:


Just kidding, and nice to find a Policeman that gives warnings, very rare!:up:

[Gargamel]

Might have mentioned this a bit ago, but about 6 weeks I was arrested for DUI.

Was out on a date with a girl, had a few drinks, but not many. I'm a big guy, and can drink, and I never drive if I'm feeling much at all. So the date ends, And I'm on my way home. I'm leaving town, 50 feet from the edge of town, I start accelerating from the 35mph zone into the 55 mph zone.

State Trooper spins around behind me, pulls me over.

Says he got me doing 47 in a 35, I argue I was just about in the 55 zone. He then asks if I have had anything to drink. Since I didn't think I was intoxicated, I say sure, I had a few with dinner.

He asks me to step out of the car. I do the field sobriety test. He says take off your glasses and follow my finger. He then holds the flashlight in front of his finger. I cannot see the finger at all, but I try to follow it. He then has me walk the line, which was covered in Ice and snow, I do that fine. When I have to stand on one foot, I realize I'm a real Klutz and I end up putting a foot down once, joking about it as I do it.

He then tells me he's putting me under arrest for DUI. I'm like What? I know I'm fine, it's cold and I'm shivering. We had been sitting outside on the smoking porch for a couple hours, and my motor control isn't that good when I'm shivering, but he's not buying any of it. I'm now thinking about how I have driven when I was more drunk than this, but still capable of driving, and now I'm rethinking every decision I ever made in this regard.



After reading me my rights, He tries to cuff me around the back, but since a childhood injury to my right arm, I cannot touch my right hand to my right shoulder, nor as I learn this night, put my hands together behind my back. He has to use two sets of cuffs, and they're on painfully tight, since he's now kinda annoyed.

He now helps me into the back of the cruiser, which is NOT made for people who are 6'3" and 330lbs. I don't fit. He had to push. He now gets my phone and asks if there is someone I can call to come get the car. I call my brother, but then I realize he's got kids, and he'd need to bundle them and her up to have a second driver. So I tell him nevermind, but by then he's awake (it's 2 am), and call's my parent's, but they're too far away to help in time, and now they're awake and worried.

So they tow the car. Great.

I'm jammed in the back of the cruiser, head crammed against the ceiling, hat being forced down over my eyes. I can't see when he's going to stop, or accelerate, and being a trooper, his pedals only have two positions, all the way down or up. So I'm not a happy camper by the time we make it to the barracks.

He helps pull me out of the cruiser. Says Walk over to the door. I'm like what door? I'm pissed now. And by the way I'm walking, cuffed and blindfolded, he's realizing I'm actually not the drunk. He pulls my hat up, and I head over to the door.

It's then I realize the drunk tank is up a flight of stairs. What Fool designed this place??? I bound up the stairs, let's just get this over with.

Sit's me down, reads me a bunch of stuff. Gives me the breathalyzer. And again. I blow a .012. Legal limit is .08. I'm barely even registering.

I actually say to him "I told you so".

He hems and haws for a bit. Then he says he's only going to cite me for the license plate light being out, and not the speeding nor the DUI. I'm like thanks, happy to just not be getting a DUI.

He walks into the other office to do the paperwork, and I hear him talking to his sergeant. Can't hear what they are saying, but there's a conversation. He comes back and says he's not going to cite me for anything, as the tow charge would be enough. Well good, I think.

He says he'll give me a ride home then. I say just take me back to my car and I'll be fine. He can't do that he says, I've been drinking. Ok..... /facepalm.

Then he tells me he'll have to cuff me again and put me in the back. I look him dead on, and say I'll only be cuffed in the front, and only so he'll feel safe. he does have a gun, he's young, and jumpy, and I really understand why he has to cuff me, but I'm not getting getting cuffed in the back again. He agrees.

He cuffs me, THEN he hands my my wallet, keys, paperwork, and phone. What the heck am I supposed to do with this now? I can't reach my pockets.

So I'm loaded into the back of the cruiser again. But this time..... I can text! And take Selfies! While handcuffed! This does nothing but annoy him more, but he's not going to say a damn thing. I let my family know the quick and dirty of what's going on, and they can go back to sleep.

He drops me off at my house, uncuffs me, says goodnight, and leaves. Didn't even get a good night kiss!

After finally getting the car back a couple days later, I find the Only thing he searched was my glove compartment, which hold an electric razor, which in hindsight the case really does look like a really big weed pipe case. At that point he gave up.



He never did find the brass knuckles (made out of resin) I had in my jacket pocket the whole time.

[Reece]

Good grief, what a nob!! Oh for a hidden camera! :doh:

[Platapus]

"I'm now thinking about how I have driven when I was more drunk than this, but still capable of driving"

A lot of people think this. :nope:

[Gargamel]

"I'm now thinking about how I have driven when I was more drunk than this, but still capable of driving"

A lot of people think this. :nope:


I knew that would get interpreted that way, and that's not what I meant at all.

If I have any doubt at all about my abilities, then I'll wait. I've crawled in the back seat and slept it off before. There's no way I'm putting myself or others at risk for something as stupid as that.

What I meant was, if I was drunk then (I wasn't, not in the slightest), then the atrocities I had committed in the past were really scaring me. Having finally been able to put a breathalyzer test to how I felt, it let me know I had been making the safe decision all along.

[Sailor Steve]

A big part of the problem with drinking and driving is that the person who is drunk enough to be dangerous is also drunk enough to be convinced he's not drunk.

[Jimbuna]

A big part of the problem with drinking and driving is that the person who is drunk enough to be dangerous is also drunk enough to be convinced he's not drunk.

True that and been a witness to the fact more times than I can remember :yep:

[Commander Wallace]

A big part of the problem with drinking and driving is that the person who is drunk enough to be dangerous is also drunk enough to be convinced he's not drunk.

An answer to this, that is too easy. Just don't drink when you are out. More often than not, if one goes out to the clubs, you will encounter the loudmouth who has had too much to drink and is intent on causing problems. If you don't drink when out, and have your wits about you, then you should be able to handle the drunken individual, as peacefully as possible. Additionally, you will be sober and can If necessary, handle the situation physically. I have dealt with those situations a few times and it didn't end well for the drunk.

Further, one can get a " designated driver " or call a cab or get a Uber ride. If i went out with a group, I was usually the designated driver since I don't drink anyhow except on rare occasions. The rare occasion is watching sports at home when my favorite teams are losing badly.:D

This way, everyone has a good time and I make sure they get home safe.

Years ago, our band played out and some high school chums I graduated with a few years before came out to hear us play. It was a great night and a good time was had by all. The next day, I received a phone call to tell me one high school friend who had been there with us had been drunk and got in a car accident and was killed. I didn't see him as he left before we were done playing. To make matters worse, his brother had also been killed the same way 10 months earlier. His parents buried 2 sons in less than a year. I blamed myself and the " friends " for the longest time for not looking out for him that night.

I had looked out for friends in high school if they did drink but learned a lot from our friends needless death. I made sure they got home and after the incident above. I redoubled my efforts to make sure anyone with us stayed safe and that they didn't hurt anyone else by driving drunk.

I guess it comes down to being responsible. You said pretty much the same thing.

[Jimbuna]

Back in the day there used to be a road sign on the M25, featuring an illustration of a police car with lights flashing.

"If you drink and drive, we'll provide the chasers."

[GoldenRivet]

As someone who has personally been hit in a traffic accident by someone who was driving under the influence... twice, i say people who are this bad at being grown ups and make such blatantly bad decisions so as to take the lives of innocent motorists and pedestrians in their own inebriated hands; DUI should be an automatic 15 year prison sentence on the first offense.