Los Angeles Criminal Defense Attorney Blog

Published on: September 21, 2015

Unhappy Fate for Daughter of Anti-DUI Crusader

Imagine how would you feel if you spent a career trying to get drivers suspected of DUI in Los Angeles off the road—only to have your own daughter fall victim to one?

The online media has been full of stories about Officer Dan Shragal, a 20-year veteran with the Indianapolis Metropolitan police. During his time on the force, Shragal has arrested close to 4,000 drivers suspected of DUI. It’s too bad he couldn’t have stopped at least one more.

Shragal’s daughter, 22-year-old Kirstin Burton, was driving down the road in Dayton, Ohio, with her 14-month-old son Orion on August 22nd.when a pickup truck driven by 32-year-old Walter Bradley slammed into her car. The impact pushed Burton’s car into a tree and killed her outright—emergency personnel pronounced her dead at the scene. It also critically injured her son, who was riding in the back seat of the car. Hospital personnel were uncertain at first if they were going to be able to save him because he had lost so much blood, but his prognosis is now good.

One eyewitness said that Bradley first hit the car of his (the witness’) wife, then hit a taxicab before Burton’s vehicle. Bradley tried to flee the scene, but witnesses chased him down and held him until police arrived. They reported that he was covered in blood.

In a sad irony, Officer Shragal received the call about the crash when he was taking a quick break from his job, which that evening involved working at a DUI checkpoint in Indianapolis.

Shragal said that his daughter’s death has made him more committed than ever to keeping DUI drivers off the road. Fox 59 News quoted him saying, “I don’t want to have another father bury his daughter or his son or children to lose a mom or a dad. It is destructive.”

Officer Shragal’s tragedy is profound, and it vividly illustrates the unimaginable costs of DUI. If you stand accused of DUI, stories like this must make you stop and take notice. Not only do you want to clear your name (if possible), but you also want to get to the root of why you got in trouble in the first place and do whatever it takes to make amends and become a much safer and more conscientious driver.

As a frequent contributor to respected media, like The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times and Good Morning America, Los Angeles DUI attorney Michael Kraut of the Kraut Law Group Criminal & DUI Lawyers, Inc. understands what it takes to build successful defenses in complex DUI cases. Contact him and his team today to schedule a consultation.

Published on: September 14, 2015

Eight Kids And A DUI Driver

by Michael Kraut

Have you ever nervously watched a Los Angeles DUI driver weaving down the road at high speed? Then you also know the feeling of relief you get if you see that a police officer has pulled that driver over. You’re glad that they have yanked him or her off the road before someone ended up dead or in the hospital. If the vehicle carries passengers, you may wonder how the driver could risk endangering them—especially when those passengers are children.

Police in Madison County, Indiana, got a jolt when they encountered 26-year-old Jennifer Karkosky on the Saturday evening of Labor Day weekend. Karkosky was not only allegedly driving under the influence–she was also carrying eight children between the ages of three and 12 years old in her blue 2000 GMC Jimmy.

According to Fox 59 News, Karkosky said she and the children had been on their way home from a swimming pool, and she was attempting to turn her vehicle around on the road. Instead, she backed off the road, ending up with the vehicle at a 45 degree angle and its hood in the air. Police officers responding to the scene said Karkosky smelled like alcohol and said she admitted to having three beers earlier in the day. Her blood alcohol content measured at 0.16, double the legal limit.

The passengers in the car included Karkosky’s own two children, three children of friends and three she was trying to adopt. It’s not likely that she’ll get custody anytime soon, if the DUI charges stick. The charges against her include one count of operating a vehicle while intoxicated with previous convictions against her; eight counts of neglect of a dependent child; and one count of driving on a suspended driver’s license.

Authorities released Karkosky’s two kids and the friends’ children to family members. The Department of Child Services is caring for the remaining three.

Locating a seasoned and qualified Los Angeles DUI defense lawyer is a critical part of the process of reclaiming your life, your time and your peace of mind. Call ex-prosecutor Michael Kraut for a free consultation right now.

Published on: September 10, 2015

Camera Catches Strange DUI Incident

by Michael Kraut

Incidents of DUI in Los Angeles can result in drivers exhibiting some very unusual behaviors. But when someone who saw the event tries to describe what happened, other people may find their story hard to believe. Fortunately for police officers in Rowland Heights, California, they can produce video evidence to confirm that what they said happened to cause a crash actually did occur.

The dash cam on the car following Jasmine Lacey’s 2010 Hyundai Sonata on Harbor Boulevard captured the whole incident. (The car’s owner posted it on YouTube, where almost two million people have viewed it.) In the video, you first can see Lacey’s car traveling in the left lane but swerving over the center line several times. All of a sudden the car comes to an abrupt halt and the 22-year-old Lacey hops out and runs to the median strip. (Fortunately the driver behind had maintained a safe driving distance and could stop his own vehicle in time.)

But Lacey had neglected to do one important thing—turn the car off. So with the front door still swinging wide open, the car kept moving downhill on the right side of the highway for a short time before crossing the median strip. The Sonata then headed into traffic going in the opposite direction, colliding with an SUV. (Another vehicle, unable to stop in time, then rear-ended the SUV.) Lacey’s car, meanwhile, traveled across the traffic lanes to the side of the road, where an encounter with two small trees finally ended its journey.

By some miracle, neither driver involved in the crash with Lacey’s car suffered serious injuries. Police officers arriving at the scene took Lacey to the hospital and eventually charged her with DUI. But officials dismissed charges against her the next day citing lack of evidence.

Do you need assistance constructing an appropriate response to a DUI charge? Look to the Kraut Law Group Criminal & DUI Lawyers, Inc.’ 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: September 9, 2015

DUI Drivers Hit The Wall, The Fence, Horse Trailers—And A Train

by Michael Kraut

A collision with an inanimate object often brings to a halt the odyssey of a speeding and/or reckless driver suspected of a DUI in Los Angeles or in any other location.

Take the case of 65-year-old Huyesin Oflu of Frankford, Delaware. Before police caught up with him in the early morning hours of Wednesday, August 26th, he had managed to cross a median strip and two lanes of travel on DuPont Highway. Oflu then hit a fence, but that didn’t slow him down. He proceeded to ram two horse trailers, a fence (which he went through), a utility box and a road sign. Oflu’s vehicle ended up in the parking lot of a convenience store, where Delaware state troopers found him. They charged him with DUI, failure to remain in a single lane, failure to carry proof of insurance and littering.

Local police arrested Anna Stafford, 45, of Western Springs, Illinois, after they watched her hit a retaining wall while attempting to turn into a driveway. According to the La Grange Patch, the officers had responded to reports of a car swerving all over Wolf Road. When they caught up with Stafford they found an open bottle of alcohol in her car. Stafford’s subsequent arrest for DUI wasn’t a new experience for her; this incident marked the fourth time police picked her up for DUI.

While a moving train doesn’t exactly qualify as an inanimate object, the Union Pacific freight car that Brandy Jo Johnson slammed with her 2007 Honda minivan did bring her trip to an end. (The flashing railroad warning lights at the train track/road intersection had failed to stop her.) When they arrived at the accident scene, Franklin County police found Johnson’s minivan on its side down a nearby embankment; Johnson, almost miraculously, did not suffer serious injuries. She will face DUI charges, however.

Do you need help defending against a serious charge? Call a qualified Los Angeles DUI defense attorney with the Kraut Law Group Criminal & DUI Lawyers, Inc. immediately.

Published on: September 7, 2015

Officer Arresting One DUI Driver Gets Slammed By Another

by Michael Kraut

Under most circumstances, police officers might welcome the opportunity to nab two DUIs with one traffic stop—at a checkpoint for DUIs in Los Angeles, for example. But Denver Police Officer Daniel Swint, a member of a special DUI unit, would probably have been content with his initial DUI pickup. The second one landed him in the hospital with serious injuries.

According to Denver’s Channel 9 news, Officer Swint had pulled over 27-year-old Jennifer Beauregard on suspicion of DUI around 4 a.m. on a Friday morning. Beauregard halted in the left lane of I-25 so Officer Swint stopped his car there as well. After determining that Beauregard was probably DUI, Swint placed her in his cruiser. He was making a call on his microphone when a young woman came along in the lane and rammed him.

Swing’s patrol car slammed forward, banging into the car ahead of it and causing a four-car chain reaction. Despite his injuries, Swint was able to radio for help. After medics arrived on the scene they rushed Officer Swint to the hospital, where doctors treated him for a fractured jaw, spinal cord fracture and five broken ribs.

The police officers investigating the crash said there was no evidence that the woman had tried to swerve or break to avoid a crash. She said she had not been drinking, which officers found hard to believe since she was slurring her words and swaying as she stood. She initially refused to take a blood alcohol test but after talking to a lawyer agreed to cooperate. The officers charged her with vehicular assault; more charges may come after the BAC test results come in.

News reports later revealed that police in Tennessee had previously arrested the woman for DUI, but she pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of reckless endangerment.

Do you need help defending against a drug or DUI charge? Michael Kraut of Los Angeles’s Kraut Law Group Criminal & DUI Lawyers, Inc. is a trustworthy, highly qualified former prosecutor. Call a Los Angeles DUI attorney today to strategize for your defense seriously.

Published on: September 2, 2015

She’s No Jewel: Convicted Thief Arrested for DUI

by Michael Kraut

Kayla King has a pretty impressive rap sheet for a 24-year-old. Like many drivers arrested for DUI in Los Angeles she’s had some previous run-ins with the law; now she’s added some more serious new charges to her record.

King, who hails from South Carolina, pleaded guilty last year to grand larceny after stealing almost $38,000 in jewelry from her in-laws. King got off lightly with a sentence of five years’ probation, but she didn’t learn her lesson. Police arrested her for shoplifting earlier this year.

She was out on $500 bond from that charge when officers from the Greenville Police Department pulled her over around 1 in the morning of August 28th. They approached her on either side of the car. King refused to cooperate with their requests to get out of her 2015 Chevrolet coupe, so the officer on the driver’s side of the vehicle tried to reach in and unbuckle her seat belt. That’s when King restarted the car and drove off—dragging that officer with her. The movement threw the other officer, who had been leaning in on the passenger side, into the car.

Fortunately for both officers, King crashed after going a very short distance. But she wasn’t finished. After the wreck, she reached over to the officer who had landed in her car and attempted to grab the gun out of his holster. She wasn’t successful.
King ended up in the hospital after the crash and so did the officer dragged by her car. Both have been released, the officer to his home and King to the Greenville County Detention Center, where she remains held on no bond. She should probably get accustomed to being inside; police have charged her with attempted murder, DUI, kidnapping, possession of a controlled substance and failure to stop.

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

Published on: August 26, 2015

DUIs With A Twist

by Michael Kraut

Although there’s no such thing as a typical arrest for DUI in Los Angeles, most cases don’t stand out as memorable for police officers. But sometimes they come across a DUI suspect that they will remember—and are likely tell stories about—for years to come.

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Once such incident occurred recently in Santa Rosa, California. California Highway Patrol officers stopped Christopher McFarlane near College Avenue in the early morning hours of Saturday, August 8th. According to the Press Democrat, they had seen him an hour or so before; he was a passenger in a car they previously pulled over.

Officers eventually arrested the female driver of that car on DUI charges and warned McFarlane—who allegedly appeared drunk—not to attempt to drive for a while. He agreed. But a short time later, as officers were leaving the jail where they had booked McFarlane’s friend, they noticed him behind the wheel of another car. He failed a field sobriety test and the police eventually booked him not only on DUI but also on driving on a suspended license and violating his probation. (McFarlane was on probation because of a previous DUI conviction.)

In Wildwood, Florida, 33-year-old Christina Anne Marie Lamoreaux told officers who charged her with DUI that they should arrest her dog and not her. Lamoreaux had fled the scene after hitting an apartment building with her car. When police caught up with her later in her own apartment she said she had intended all along to pay for the damage. She insisted that the accident wasn’t her fault—if they wanted to arrest someone, they should arrest the dog, who (she claimed) had caused the accident.

But officers, noticing that Lamoreaux smelled of alcohol and appeared confused, asked her take a sobriety test. When she refused, they hauled her off to jail, charging her with DUI, hit and run involving property damage and resisting arrest. (The dog apparently won’t face charges.)

How should you respond to your recent and disarming charges? Call a qualified Los Angeles DUI defense lawyer (and ex-prosecutor) with nearly two decades of relevant legal experience.

Published on: August 24, 2015

Is Uber Reducing California DUIs?

by Michael Kraut

Could ride-sharing apps like Uber make a significant dent in the number of fatal accidents related to DUI in Los Angeles? Two students at Temple University are saying they already are.

Brad Greenwood and Sunil Wattal wrote a paper investigating how the entry of Uber influences the rate of alcohol-related motor vehicle homicides. Their findings—shared in a paper called “Show Me the Way to Go Home: An Empirical Investigation of Ride Sharing and Alcohol Related Motor Vehicle Homicide”–show a significant drop in the rate of DUI homicides between 2011 (when Uber entered the California market in San Francisco) and 2013.

According to The Daily Signal website, the study states that “the entrance of UberX results in a 3.6 percent–5.6 percent decrease in the rate of motor vehicle homicides per quarter in the state of California.” The authors extrapolated this data to a national level: “With more than 13 thousand deaths occurring nationally each year due to alcohol-related car crashes at a cost of 37 billion dollars, results indicate that a complete implementation of UberX would create a public welfare net of over 1.3 billion dollars to American taxpayers and save roughly 500 lives annually.”

Uber X is the least expensive level of the Uber service. Greenwood and Wattal say that the affordability of the service (as opposed to more expensive taxis or higher levels of Uber service) is keeping the DUI homicide rate down.

The Daily Signal story noted that police made only two DUI arrests in San Francisco over the 2015 New Year’s Eve holiday period, the lowest number since 2009. But those numbers didn’t hold up all over the state. According to an article last January in the Los Angeles Times, the California Highway Patrol made 219 DUI arrests in Los Angeles County during the New Year’s Eve holiday, up from 104 in 2014. Across the state CHP made 1,072 DUI arrests during the holiday in 2015 compared with 457 in 2014.

Los Angeles DUI defense lawyer, Michael Kraut, of the Kraut Law Group Criminal & DUI Lawyers, Inc. is standing by to offer critical insight into your case and potential defense options. Call him and his team today to begin regaining control over your case and your life.

Published on: August 21, 2015

Deadly California DUIs

by Michael Kraut

DUI-related accidents in California resulted in several fatalities in early August. Although police didn’t report any deaths due to DUIs in Los Angeles proper around that time, motorists in other parts of the state weren’t as lucky.

According to Long Beach Patch, 28-year-old Alvin B. Shaw had a blood alcohol content level of 0.15 when he headed west in the eastbound lanes of the Gerald Desmond Bridge in Long Beach around 7 a.m. on August 1. He slammed his 2012 Mercedes-Benz into two other vehicles, a 2014 Ford Fusion and a 2010 Nissan pickup. Both Shaw and the Fusion driver ended up in the hospital with critical injuries. But 30-year-old Miguel Gonzalez, the Nissan driver, wasn’t as lucky. Emergency workers pronounced him dead at the scene.

Shaw allegedly was driving on a suspended license, which he had lost because of a previous DUI conviction in 2014. He faces charges of murder and DUI causing injury within 10 years of another DUI offense.

On August 10th, 44-year old Carmen Venegas of Fremont, driving an Acura, hit a Toyota Scion that was stopped perpendicular to traffic on Highway 101. According to witnesses, the Scion had hit the center divider of the road before ending up on the second lane from the right facing the shoulder. That’s where the car was when Venegas broadsided it. After screening Venegas at the scene, police booked her on suspicion of DUI felony driving, driving without a license and felony manslaughter. She had two 14-year old boys plus another adult passenger in the car when the accident occurred.

Garrett James Gelrud, 34, caused a head-on collision near Pala on August 5th, killing the driver of the other car. His Chevrolet Suburban crossed the double yellow lines on Old Highway 395 and rammed into a Nissan Versa driven by 62-year-old Juan Corza Gonzalez. Gelrud ran from the scene but police caught up with him. He faces charges of second-degree murder, gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and DUI causing injury.

Designing and executing an effective defense against DUI charges (even simple ones) is not intuitive. Fortunately, you can trust the seasoned, highly successful Michael Kraut. Call a DUI lawyer in Los Angeles with nearly two decades of experience.

Published on: August 19, 2015

DUI Stories You Don’t Hear Every Day

by Michael Kraut

People out on bail after an arrest for a DUI in Los Angeles may try to avoid going to court (and possibly to jail). But few can match David Doyle Abbey Jr.’s ability to evade capture. Until mid-August, he had managed to dodge a court appearance on DUI charges for more than 20 years.

Abbey was riding a bike along a street in Anderson, California, when police stopped him as they searched for a stolen bike. When officers ran his name through the system, they discovered that Marin County had an outstanding felony warrant against him for causing injury while driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol. The police escorted Abbey to jail—21 years late—and he’s likely to remain there because the courts haven’t granted him bail.

While Abbey managed to stay out of the police spotlight for more than two decades, Gilbert Phelps of Iowa City, Iowa, apparently enjoyed the chance to hang out with them. According to KCCI TV authorities pulled over the 20-year old around 2 a.m. on August 6th for speeding. The arresting officer noticed a strong smell of alcohol, and Phelps admitted that he had been smoking pot before driving. As the officer prepared to give Phelps a breathalyzer test, the young man asked if he could take a selfie with him.

It’s not clear which is more bizarre–the fact that Phelps, smiling broadly, wanted to memorialize his moment of infamy via a selfie posted to Snapchat—or the fact that Iowa City Police Officer Ben Hekoten also appears in the background of the shot with a big smile and a thumbs up sign. (Maybe he had just met his DUI arrest quota that month?)

Police charged Phelps with a DUI. He’s scheduled to appear in court in mid-August; family and friends may want to watch for a selfie of that memorable moment in his life as well.

Do you need assistance constructing an appropriate response to a DUI charge? Look to the Kraut Law Group Criminal & DUI Lawyers, Inc.’ 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.