• 10
  • September
    2011

A 40-year-old Pennsylvania man was recently charged with drunk driving. The incident occurred last Sunday around 6 p.m. The Avondale man was pulling his pontoon boat from the water onto a trailer, which was attached to his Chevrolet Trailblazer. Police officers arrived on the scene in response to a complaint about a domestic argument.

However, when police arrived, the man allegedly drove away while towing the trailer and boat behind him. Just after he sped away, he was involved in a car accident with a parked car.

Allegedly, he left the scene of the accident, but while making a turn for which he failed to signal, the boat and trailer flipped over. According to the police report he continued to drive, dragging the flipped over boat and trailer behind him. How far he was actually able to drive away towing the boat and trailer in this condition was not reported.

When the driver got out of his car, police officers said that they smelled alcohol on his breath. Police officers allege that they tried to administer field sobriety tests on the driver at the scene, but they apparently were unsuccessful.

The driver was taken to the hospital for a blood-alcohol test, which he refused. However, police used physical force and a stun gun to force him to allow them to get a blood sample.

He is currently being held in prison, in lieu of $5,000 cash bail. He has been charged with:

  • DUI
  • Reckless driving
  • Resisting arrest
  • Resisting arrest with violence
  • Disregarding a police officer's signal
  • Leaving the scene of a property accident
  • Driving at an unreasonable speed
  • Driving on the wrong side of the highway
  • Two counts of failure to signal intention

This Pennsylvania man should not face these multiple charges alone. Of particular interest, is the aggressive use of force by police officers in obtaining evidence. Although results from the forced BAC test were unreported and may not yet be available, an aggressive DUI defense would investigate whether proper procedures were followed during the arrest process.

Source: DelmarvaNow.com, "CRIME: Man charged with DUI after towing boat, trailer upside down," Sept. 7, 2011