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.






The Smoking Gun 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.










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]

Originally Posted by Platapus

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.

[Rockstar]

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


https://www.cnn.com/2015/08/22/us/fl...eat/index.html

[Catfish]

^^

@Rockstar Well when they allow guns in bars, where's the difference?
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.

[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 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.)

[Reece]

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


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

[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!

[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.