Up Against the Wall: Underage driver avoids cops by locking the car

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By ASHLEY DICKSON
summit daily news
Summit County, CO Colorado
April 29, 2008

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Up Against the Wall
Up Against the Wall appears biweekly. All accounts are rewritten from Summit County law enforcement agency logs. Names are withheld for privacy; individuals are assumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

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SUMMIT COUNTY — Officers couldn’t help but notice a funny smell when they responded to a vehicle that had skidded off the road and into a snowbank.

After making contact with the driver, they observed he had slurred speech and requested he exit the vehicle to perform some voluntary roadside maneuvers.

While coaching the driver through the roadside maneuvers, officers noticed the passenger crawl over into the driver’s seat and lock the doors. After unsuccessfully trying to drive the car out of the snowbank, the passenger realized he was going nowhere and stumbled out of the car where he was placed into custody.

After the driver was unable to successfully complete the roadside maneuvers, the officer placed him into custody where he was patted down for weapons. In his front pocket, officers found a Georgia identification card that did not match the name or picture of the driver, who was under 21 years old.

The driver said he had found the ID in a parking lot and was using it to buy alcohol. Both the driver and the passenger were charged with drinking underage, and the driver was charged with Driving Under the Influence, Weaving and Criminal Impersonation.

Further investigation into the smell emitting from the car found that the man had been driving with his emergency brake on, giving officers yet another reason to assume the driver was intoxicated.

Courteous drunk driver
A car driving down the road in the middle of the night without its headlights on was reason enough for officers to conduct a traffic stop and suspect drunk driving.

The driver, who smelled of alcoholic beverages, informed the officers that pulled her over that she had turned her headlights off because “she did not want to disturb anyone.”

The driver admitted that she had had two beers earlier in the evening, but claimed she was coming from work and was just trying to get home.

After stumbling out of the vehicle to perform some roadside maneuvers the driver failed three separate times, unable to maintain balance with every maneuver.
The driver then failed a breath test and was placed under arrest for Driving Under the Influence and Driving with no headlights.

It is nice to know that the driver was just trying to be considerate as she drunkenly navigated through town in the dark, who needs headlights anyway.

Ashley Dickson can be reached at (970) 668-4629, or at adickson@summitdaily.com.