Beaver Falls man in odd DUI case

A man from Beaver Falls was arrested this morning on misdemeanor charges of driving under the influence. This isn’t your normal case, however. According to police officers, the man was taking his child from the child’s mother’s home to his parents’ home when he was pulled over a burnt out tail light. The man said he was at a stop light when the police officer behind him turned on his lights and used the loudspeaker to ask the man to pull to the side of the road. The man says that he admitted to the officer that he was drinking while he watched a football game with some family members, and that he had received a DUI approximately 16 years prior, but that he was not impaired and could fully function his vehicle. The man’s Breathalyzer test read a legal .06%, but police say they took the man in because he admitted to drinking and because there was a child in the vehicle. After some questioning and close scrutiny, the man was released to his ex-wife, but still booked on charges of DUI and endangering the life of a child. The circumstance here are difficult. The man said he had been drinking, but was clearly under the legal limit. He also admitted to having a prior DUI, though that had taken place when he was 17. The police say that they arrested him because they felt that he was in danger of risking the child’s life who was riding with him. The man admitted to having three twelve ounce beers in the matter of ninety minutes; however, the man weighs at least 250 pounds and has admitted that he socially drinks, therefore implying that he has as tolerance to alcohol. The man committed no crimes and was not breaking the law when he was pulled over, other than an unlit taillight, which he says he had no idea that it wasn’t working. He was arrested, detained, and his child, he says, was devastated because of the incident. This is an odd situation, but one that I look forward to handling. We’re walking a thin line between legality and ethics here and I’m excited, as a lawyer, to make clearer the law for similar cases in the future. If you have questions about DUI and impaired driving, call Pittsburgh criminal defense attorney Gary Gerson at 412-219-6875 today for a free consultation.