truck DUI

Published on: August 12, 2015

Vehicle Damage Leads to DUI Arrest

Drivers at risk of a charge of DUI in Los Angeles take note: if you want to avoid police notice, don’t drive a vehicle that looks like it’s been involved in a wreck. Had Jonathan Bruno of Raritan Township, New Jersey, followed that advice he might not be facing some serious criminal charges today.

According to the Hunterdon County Democrat, Bruno, age 19, had sideswiped a guardrail along Route 202-31 north just before he met Patrolman Anthony Moreno. The officer wasn’t looking for drivers under the influence; he was on the scene because a fallen tree limb had hit some electrical wires.

But the officer couldn’t help noticing Bruno’s car. It had come out the worse for wear in its encounter with the guardrail, with the passenger side damaged and the front tire on that side flat.

It didn’t take Patrolman Moreno long to figure out that Bruno was in no shape to drive, perhaps due to the heroin and syringe that the officer found in the back of his vehicle. Police eventually charged Bruno with possession of those items and with a whole list of other offenses, including careless driving, reckless driving, leaving the scene of a motor-vehicle crash, failure to report a motor-vehicle crash, driving an uninsured vehicle, violating the terms of his probationary driver’s license and possession of a controlled dangerous substance in a motor vehicle.

A friend came to pick Bruno up from the police station. Since Bruno isn’t likely to get his driver’s license back soon, he may be relying on such rides in the foreseeable future.

In a similar case, police in Hendersonville, Tennessee, responded to a call about a possibly intoxicated driver sitting at a traffic light. When they spotted 19-year-old Ben Steele’s damaged car, they decided to take a closer look. Steele couldn’t tell them what happened—and couldn’t pass the sobriety tests either—but officers eventually traced the damage back to a mailbox he had hit. Officers charged him with failure to report an accident, leaving the scene of an accident, driving under the influence and underage consumption.

Do you need assistance constructing an appropriate response to a DUI charge? Look to the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers’ Michael Kraut for insight and peace of mind. Mr. Kraut is an experienced Los Angeles DUI attorney with many relevant connections in the local legal community.

Published on: June 29, 2015

Police and the DUI Driver and the City

by Michael Kraut

Police officers are constantly on the lookout for drivers whom they can charge with a DUI in Los Angeles. So the last thing that impaired motorists usually want to do is to call attention to themselves and their driving. But in two recent cases, that’s just what happened—once accidentally and once deliberately.

Pedro S. Garcia of White Plains, New York, allegedly gained the notice two officers by almost hitting them. They had been directing traffic at the scene of a medical emergency when they saw a driver accelerate towards them, stopping just before he reached them.

When the cops investigated, they found that Garcia smelled like alcohol, had watery eyes and was speaking slowly and deliberately. When they gave him a field sobriety test, he flunked. The officers charged Garcia with DUI and hauled him off to jail, but he was soon released on a $220 bond.

In Hopkinsville, Kentucky, however, the police didn’t have to go searching for the intoxicated driver; he came right to them and literally asked to be arrested. Christopher Stewart, age 26, drove to the police station in this small town on June 16th and almost hit a parked police cruiser. He then got out of his vehicle and told officers that he was ready to go to jail for DUI.

Stewart told police that he drank a pint of alcohol before coming to visit them, and he then tried to drink a bottle (closed) of fuel injector cleaning fluid. So the cops obliged the young man by charging him as he requested. They didn’t say whether there was a particular motive for his unusual behavior.

Do you or a family member need insight from a qualified Los Angeles DUI attorney? Contact Michael Kraut of the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers to set up your free consultation.

Published on: June 10, 2015

Colorado Gets Tough on DUI Drivers

by Michael Kraut

California has some pretty tough consequences if you’re convicted of DUI in Los Angeles; if you’re found guilty of the offense a fourth time within ten years you can face a possible felony as well as up to five years in jail.

Until recently, Colorado had some of the laxest DUI laws in the country. The state lacked a felony provision for multiple DUI arrests; someone arrested for a fourth, fifth or six DUI would only face misdemeanor charges and a relatively short jail term.
But that’s no longer the case, thanks to continuing advocacy by family and friends of people killed and injured by DUI drivers. After years of legislative battles, the Colorado state legislature just passed a bill making a fourth DUI a felony. Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper signed the bill into law on June 1. To qualify as felony offenses, the DUI convictions don’t have to be in Colorado. If a judge or jury finds a Colorado licensed driver guilty of DUI in another state, that counts towards their total of DUI convictions.

Fox 31 Denver reports that the new law doesn’t require judges to treat the fourth offense as a felony, but it does give them the power to do so. The judges are somewhat limited by the new law, however; they can apply the felony penalty only if it appears unlikely that treatment for alcohol problems will help the convicted driver.

The bill will become law in two months, unless Colorado citizens unhappy with its provisions collect the more than 86,000 signatures required to put the issue on the ballot for state voters. They have until August 5th to file those petitions.

Do you need assistance constructing an appropriate response to a DUI charge? Look to the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers’ Michael Kraut for insight and peace of mind. Mr. Kraut is an experience Los Angeles DUI attorney with many relevant connections in the local legal community.

Published on: March 14, 2014

Caught Driving a Truck While DUI in Los Angeles? Will You Lose Your License?

by Michael Kraut

If you drive a commercial vehicle, and you got busted for DUI in Los Angeles, you may face more than just the “work-a-day” DUI punishments – jail time, fines, loss of your license, probation, mandatory interlock ignition installation, etcetera. The arrest and potential conviction can derail or potentially end your career.

Obviously, the company that hired you needs to hew to the law, and they may not even be able to use your services, if the DUI charges stick. Even if they want to keep working with you, the cost to insure you will almost certainly spike, so you may find yourself getting fewer assignments.

And you probably don’t need to be reminded about this, but driving DUI while driving a large vehicle – especially a big commercial truck – is an extremely dangerous activity. Hopefully, you didn’t cause any serious injuries or deaths in the event that has led you to need legal help. If you didn’t, count your blessings. Trucks are much more massive than cars and motorcycles. As a result, they can impart tremendous force, even while traveling at relatively low speeds.

Of course, there’s no point in beating yourself up. What happened, happened. Whether police stopped you at a checkpoint, or you flipped your truck on the 101, spilling cargo into four lanes and causing a massive traffic jam that made the typical Sig Alert look like a drive down an empty stretch of a Montana highway, you need to manage your legal charges and also probe to understand what caused you to abuse alcohol or drugs (if you indeed did that).

Truckers face unique pressures, which can drive them to consume alcohol, take medications and cram down over the counter energy supplements. These include:

•   Loneliness and isolation from being on the road so long;
•   Anxiety about a new route or life issues;
•   A health problem that’s led to chronic pain and frustration – and that makes driving the truck intolerable unless you have something to “take the edge off”;
•   The real root cause might be far deeper than you realize (psychologically speaking).

All that said, you face a big practical concern: how can you construct a wise, effective commercial Los Angeles DUI defense? Look to the experienced and competent team here at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers to create an appropriate defense for you. Mr. Kraut is an ex-prosecutor – a Harvard Law School educated former Deputy District Attorney for LA – and he is renowned for his consciences and thorough service.
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