On May 26, 2014, a Tampa Police officer was on patrol on Armenia Ave just north of the I275 overpass. He observed a white pickup truck exit I275 onto southbound Armenia Ave. Upon making the turn onto Armenia Ave, the vehicle made a wide sweeping turn into the inside lane, instead of turning into the corresponding right hand curb lane. The officer began to follow the vehicle and observed it to accelerated rapidly traveling approximately 10mph over the speed limit. The vehicle also drifted within its lane of travel. Based on these factors, the officer stopped the vehicle for suspicion of DUI. When the officer made contact with the driver, he immediately noticed the driver’s eyes were bloodshot and glassy, and that there was an odor of an alcoholic beverage emanating from his breath. The driver indicated that he consumed 3 or 4 beers with dinner. The driver agreed to perform field sobriety exercises. The driver’s performance on the exercises indicated impairment and based on those clues of impairment, he was arrested for DUI. The driver was asked if he would take a breath test, which he refused. A search of the driver after the arrest revealed marijuana in his front pocket. Result: The firm set the case for trial and the state dropped the DUI charge.
DUI & Criminal Division
