If you are out drinking at a bar, there is always a chance that an officer could see you there. What isn’t very fair is if the officer knows you and tells others to watch out for you on the roads because he or she believes you might be intoxicated. It sets you up for an arrest before you’ve even done anything wrong.
That is essentially what happened to this man in Minnesota. The man in Minnesota is facing his 28th drunk driving charge, but it’s not what it seems. The 64-year-old man was charged with felony drunk driving charges because he refused to take a breath test when asked by police.
The man was arrested after leaving the VFW, a veteran’s club. In the complaint, it stated that a deputy was in the VFW. That deputy allegedly saw him drinking in the club and alerted authorities that they should stop him once he was in his vehicle.
The police pulled over the man after he failed to stop for a stop sign. He was driving slowly on Highway 10 when he was stopped. Allegedly, he told the officer that he was “way over” the limit. The man is in jail now with bail set at $100,000. If he is convicted of the charges, he faces seven years in prison.
If you are stopped by police, you don’t have to do or say anything incriminating, but know that implied consent does mean you have consented to a breath test in the past. You don’t have to try to defend yourself or say anything if the breath test comes back high; you can wait to speak with your attorney.
Source: CBS Minnesota, “Minnesota Man Facing 28th Drunk Driving Charge,” Oct. 03, 2017