Repeat DUI Offenders Dipping into Old Habits
One of the most discouraging aspects of being a law enforcement officer looking out for Driving Under the Influence offenses is coming across the repeat DUI offenders. Repeat DUI offenders, who never seem to learn the dangers of drinking and driving, are not an issue in just one or a handful of states. This phenomenon is something that law enforcement officers across the United States are seeing and dealing with every day. This is evident in a case coming out of Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Tulsa World, an Oklahoma news website, recently reported that highway patrol officers arrested a male suspect in late October for Driving Under the Influence (DUI) as well as transporting an open container and several other offenses. The same officer had stopped the driver three days prior to this offense and had arrested him for DUI during that interaction as well. Being arrested for DUI two times in one week is bad enough, but this driver made his situation significantly worse during his second arrest.
The suspect was pulled over for driving erratically, and the officer recognized him from the earlier arrest and smelled alcohol on his breath. During the previous arrest, the driver’s license was suspended, and while the driver initially complied during the traffic stop, he ducked back inside the vehicle after he was asked to exit, slammed on the gas, and drove away from the scene. The officer then engaged the driver in a car chase through the area, ignoring the brown bag that was thrown from the car.
The driver attempted to hide the vehicle by turning off the vehicle’s headlights, but the chase came to a stop when the driver crashed into a stop sign. When the officer approached the vehicle, he discovered several open beer cans inside as well as a passenger he had not previously seen. The passenger was unhappy with the driver’s reaction to being pulled over and stated he took off from police even though she protested and tried to get out of vehicle during the stop.
At the end of the ordeal, the driver was charged with DUI, transporting an open container, kidnapping, eluding a law enforcement officer, and a myriad of other violations. Many states take a dim view of those who are repeat DUI offenders – those who are convicted of a second or subsequent DUI charge within a certain number of years often face higher fines, jail time, and longer driver’s license suspensions.