Officer Crashes Into Daughter’s Elementary School, Faces DUI Charge

A Florida police officer is in serious trouble after crashing his pickup truck while trying to park at his daughter’s elementary school. Having a minor in the vehicle while you are under the influence is enough to get you an aggravated DUI charge, but his BAC was also more than twice the legal limit according to the reports, which will also net you an aggravated DUI charge. Witnesses say that the officer was having difficulty maintaining his balance after the accident.

Analyzing the charges 

The officer will likely face an aggravated DUI charge but there is some room to plead this down to a simple DUI. He crashed his truck into a concrete block which was unlikely to sustain damage. That means he won’t be charged with DUI with property damage which comes with enhanced penalties. In this case, the officer was said to have blown nearly twice the legal limit, but that isn’t necessarily enough to make a DUI charge stick. The breathalyzer tests administered roadside have a margin of error of .02 which means that if the officer was close to the legal limit, the police may not be able to prove that his BAC was more than twice the legal limit which would trigger an aggravated DUI.

Since the accident took place before he had his daughter in the car, the police can guess that he would have driven his daughter home while under the influence, but he didn’t. Therefore, it seems likely that he should be able to get the charges pleaded down to a simple DUI.

Analyzing the likely result of this case 

This is not a good look for a police officer, but we are becoming more aware of the fact that police officers face extreme stress on the job and sometimes that stress gets to them, driving them to conduct like alcoholism. In a case like this, the officer will likely require medical intervention to deal with his alcoholism. In many cases, rehab is assigned by the court.

Having a DUI on your record is not necessarily enough to get you kicked off the force, but he will need time off to get his current substance use under control. The court will likely require him to get intensive counseling, enter into a rehab program, and get his mental health issues under control before he is allowed to return to work.

Cases like this are sad, but the officer is lucky that he is not facing an aggravated DUI charge or DUI causing property damage. The penalties for those counts are much higher than a simple DUI.

Talk to an Orlando DUI Lawyer Today 

FL DUI Group represents the interests of those charged with DUI and related offenses in Orlando, FL. Call our Florida DUI lawyers today to schedule an appointment and we can begin preparing your defense immediately.

Source:

wesh.com/article/orlando-police-officer-dui-charges/43148756#