As Rialto drunk driving criminal defense lawyers, we noticed a lot of attention paid to a DUI arrest that took place in Laguna Beach over the weekend. As the Orange County Register reported Nov. 15, Christian Aparicio, 49, accidentally crashed his Toyota Prius into a police car after climbing out to speak to officers, then chased down the car and managed to put it in drive, crashing it into a pole. During the incident, the Prius also hit a water and air dispenser at a gas station, sending water flying everywhere. No one was hurt, but a police car's camera caught the incident on video, and that video has become popular online. Aparicio was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence.
The article said Aparicio was pulled over around 11:30 p.m. on Nov. 13, a Saturday, on suspicion of drunk driving and a traffic violation that was not named. He pulled into a gas station and got out of the vehicle to talk to police, leaving a female passenger in the front seat. However, Aparicio apparently forgot to take his car out of reverse gear, which allowed it to roll backward until it hit the grill of the police car. As it rolled backward, Aparicio got back into the car to stop it, but managed to put it in drive instead. He may also have hit the gas, pushing the car forward into a pole as the woman inside screamed. The crash was hard enough to lift the back wheels into the air, but did not hurt the woman. Aparicio was arrested on suspicion of DUI, but released the next day.
This video may look damning for Aparicio, but we would not be worried if we were his Orange intoxicated driving criminal defense attorneys. In cases of driving under the influence, the evidence that matters most is the measurement of the driver's blood-alcohol content. This story focused on the crashes, so it's not clear whether Aparicio ever took a breath or blood test. If prosecutors don't have a BAC reading, or they have one below the 0.08 legal limit, they can't prove drunk driving using only that number. Instead, they have to show that the driver was impaired, which is possible but more difficult. Prosecutors might choose to use this video to prove impairment, but we're not sure a sober driver couldn't have made the same mistakes. Even sober drivers sometimes leave their cars in gear, and jumping into a moving car to stop it in seconds would be hard for anyone. Aparicio also faced the added stress of dealing with a police stop, which could have caused him to panic and miss details.
If you're accused of driving under the influence, you should speak with Howard Law, P.C. before you plead guilty, even if you think the evidence against you is rock-solid. In fact, evidence is not always as solid as you (or the prosecutor) might think it is, because police officers make mistakes at work just like everyone else. Sometimes, those mistakes are so serious that they undermine the entire case against you, such as when evidence must be thrown out because it is tainted. Our Seal Beach DUI criminal defense lawyers scrutinize every case we take for mistakes like these. When we find them, we use them as a starting point to negotiate aggressively with prosecutors for dropped or reduced charges. Our goal is always to minimize the severe penalties that a drunk driving charge can bring.
Howard Law, P.C. offers free, confidential consultations, so you can speak to us without any further risk or obligation. To learn more or set up a meeting, contact us through the Internet or call 1-800-872-5925.
