State Officials in North Dakota are planning to introduce new legislation concerning the severity of penalties for first time DUI offenders. Throughout the years, states all over the country have been pushing for stricter DUI laws in an effort to decrease DUI related fatalities and arrests. Now, North Dakota lawmakers are considering joining 15 other states that require first time DUI offenders to serve jail time. The push for stricter DUI laws comes in the aftermath of a fatal crash that killed 3 members of a family in West Fargo.

Aaron and Allison Deutscher, along with their 18-month old baby were killed when a drunk driver traveling the wrong way on I-94 struck their SUV near Jamestown. The drunk driver in the accident had a blood alcohol content (BAC) level that was more than 3 times the legal limit. Allison Deutscher’s father, Lynn Mickelson has been heavily involved in the push for these stricter laws and believes he owe’s it to his family to do so. The states new legislation would also call for harsher penalties for repeat DUI offenders.

If you have been arrested for driving drunk, contact an experienced and skilled North Dakota DUI attorney for legal assistance.

Two off-duty Seattle police officers were arrested for DUI in the early morning hours of Monday, December 17. A witness reported a vehicle crashing into a light pole and then watched as a woman driver switched seat’s with her male passenger. They drove off and police located them several blocks away with the engine still running.

The police report reveals a confusing situation where each off-duty officer changes their story about who was driving and how much they had had to drink. The report alleges that both of the off-duty officers, whose names have been blacked-out in the released report, had a strong odor of alcohol on their breath.

Both of the arrested officers submitted to breath tests. The female officer had a BAC of .247 and the male officer had a BAC of .161. The official police report reveals a distraught and belligerent female officer who repeatedly curses at the arresting officers. The male officer is described as a veteran special operations officer and the female as a veteran patrol officer. The arresting officer, Chet D. Decker, had to repeatedly remind the female officer that audio and video recording was being made in the BAC testing room, as she kept cursing at him and acting aggressively. She accused him of trying to pad his stats, and said that he was not respecting a “fellow cop”. Chet Decker responded saying he felt “horrible” for arresting her but that he was doing his job, and even said he wished that he hadn’t come to work that night. The report seems to show that Officer Decker tried to prevent the female officer from continuing to jeopardize herself. His report ends with, “It appeared to me that —- was extremely intoxicated and was unable to control her actions.”

If you have been arrested for driving drunk, contact an experienced and skilled Washington DUI attorney for legal assistance.

It’s not uncommon to find that married couples like to do things together, however, one couple in Rhode Island took that notion to a whole other level when they were both arrested for separate DUI’s on the same day. According to police, Stephanie Souza was arrested in Cranston around 9:30 pm on December 14, 2012 after being stopped on Interstate 95. When police tested her blood alcohol content (BAC) level, they found that it was .145%, almost double the legal limit.

Less than 2 hours later, Stephanie’s husband Michael, drove to the Lincoln Woods Barracks to pick her up following the arrest. However, when police noticed Michael driving in the restricted area behind the barracks, they confronted him and found that he was intoxicated as well. Police found Michael Souza’s BAC level to be .191%, which is more than double the legal limit. Police arrested Michael and eventually released both he and his wife to a family member after their respective arraignments.

If you have been arrested for driving drunk, contact an experienced and skilled Rhode Island DUI attorney for legal assistance.

CBS Boston reported that “a van driver from Leominster will serve time after taking a blind student for a drunken joy ride.” The van driver, Michael Tantillo, will be serving jail time for one year and one month.

In October, Tantillo had also received charges for a kidnapping and DWI case. He “was supposed to take a 15-year-old blind boy home from school in Watertown, but instead, he drove around drunk for three hours before finally arriving at the boy’s Clinton home.” In addition, it was determined that at the time of the occurrence, Tantillo was driving under an expired driver’s license and that police personnel was already waiting to arrest him when he decided to return the boy to his home.

If you or someone you know has been arrested for driving drunk, contact a skilled and experienced Massachusetts  DWI attorney for legal assistance.

News Channel 5 reported that on Thursday morning, Claire Danskin, a foreign language teacher at Vero Beach High School in Florida was charged with a DUI at the school parking lot. The police report stated that Danskin, who is 60 years old, called the attention of several faculty members “when  she parked her Toyota straddling two parking spaces, struck an art teacher’s van, and walked away with her car still running.” 

Police officers immediately responded to the situation and apprehended Danskin. A blood alcohol content test determined that Danskin had no alcohol in her system, but that she “was under the influence of medication.” However, police officers still “charged her with a DUI after failing most of the sobriety exercises, including two attempts to recite the alphabet.” 

Danskin reported to the legal officers that on Wednesday evening, she had drank a glass of wine and taken a pain pill. She also confessed that the following morning, the day of the incident, she had taken some more medication for high blood pressure. She was booked at the Indian River County Jail and was given a $500 bail bond. Sources are still waiting for more information on the occurrence to report.

If you or someone you know has been arrested for driving drunk, contact a skilled and experienced Florida DUI attorney for legal assistance.

In the state of Texas, DWI laws have become increasingly tougher and could become even more strict if MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) have anything to do with it. MADD has officially started pushing Texas lawmakers to pass a law requiring first time DWI offenders to install an ignition interlock device in their vehicles. Only 17 states currently require first time DWI offenders to install the device, although, the National Transportation Safety Board has also recommended the law be passed in all states. The ignition interlock device works by requiring drivers to blow into the machine with no traces of alcohol on their breath before the vehicle will start.

While these devices do help prevent drunk driving, they are costly and some Texas drivers believe the law would be too harsh for first time offenders. Local San Antonio news station Kens 5 spoke to a couple of drivers with one person saying, “No, I think everyone should be given the opportunity to learn from their mistakes initially. After that, if there’s a repeat offender, they should pose a stiffer penalty for those individuals“. Another driver thought the law would be beneficial and said, “That’s good. It (ignition interlock) won’t give them an opportunity to get in trouble“. In addition to the ignition interlock device law, the San Antonio Police Department is also asking lawmakers to consider permanent DWI checkpoints throughout the state.

If you have been arrested for driving drunk, contact an experienced and skilled Texas DWI attorney for legal assistance.

KXAN reported that a North Carolina “woman, who was being chased by police, called 911 and told dispatchers to pay her $300,000 or she would not pull over.” Jennifer Herring, the woman being chased, demanded that officers pay her $300,000 immediately for “declaring a false sense of emergency.” Police personnel were able to release Herring’s phone call, where the 911 dispatcher tells her to please pull over, and she replies by saying: “No! I’m not pulling over, because pulling over is voluntary. Why am I going to pull over for you? I’m not doing nothing wrong. You told me there is no emergency. If there is not an emergency, it’s $300,000. Are you ready to pay the $300,000?”

Although the 911 dispatcher tried to reason with her by saying, “Ma’am, I am not the officer,” Herring kept requesting the $300,000. Herring was strongly suspected for driving drunk. Eventually, she was forced to pull over when she reached a dead end street. Herring is facing several charges for DWI, fleeing from legal officers, and driving with an expired license.

If you have been arrested for driving drunk, contact an experienced and skilled North Carolina DWI attorney for legal assistance.