Criminal defense should review alleged drunk driving pursuit

On Behalf of | Sep 30, 2016 | DWI/DUI Defense, Firm News

High-speed pursuits are more than likely not commonplace here in Derry or elsewhere. However, they do happen on occasion. One of the things that criminal defense teams often do is review the circumstances under which the pursuit occurred and whether it was conducted in accordance with police policy and procedure, along with the driver’s interactions with law enforcement officials from first contact.

This review needs to be done in order to ensure that the individual’s rights were not violated at any point. For example, a woman was accused of driving drunk during a police pursuit. The vehicle was headed north on Route 106 when officers allegedly clocked the vehicle’s speed as 90 mph in a 45 mph zone.

Officers gave chase, but claim that the 48-year-old woman driving the car refused to pull over. Reports say that sometime later, police initiated a traffic stop of a vehicle at a McDonald’s in Gilford. They claim that the woman behind the wheel refused to get out of the vehicle. This is how they justified breaking one of the vehicle’s windows in order to take the woman into custody. Police also blamed the woman for minor damage done to a vehicle that her vehicle supposedly ran off the road.

At this time, the woman is not charged with DUI even though reports intimate that impairment was suspected. The criminal defense team of any Derry resident arrested under these circumstances should review the details of the pursuit and the arrest. If there is any possibility that the driver’s rights were violated, it could result in a dismissal of the charges.

Source: wmur.com, “Alleged drunken driver leads police on high-speed chase on Route 106“, Frank O’Laughlin, Sept. 19, 2016