Camden police arrested a man and charged him with drunk driving after they observed he was slow to pick up his fast food at a drive-through lane at a McDonald’s restaurant, according to a news article in The Atlanta Journal Constitution.
According to the police report, the arresting officer said he found 32-year-old Terrance Forte asleep inside the car with the engine running and his right foot on the brake. And when the officer tried to wake him up, Forte reportedly offered him $10 for the food order, possibly believing that he was at the drive-through counter. Restaurant employees called the police at about 12:30 a.m. on Saturday after they waited 15 minutes for the man to drive from one window to the next, the article said.
Officers checked his blood alcohol level and it registered at 0.19, more than twice the legal limit of .08, according to the news report. Forte was cited for his third drunk driving charge and later released.
We see many cases in our practice of drivers who fall asleep at the wheel and are charged with a DUI. Sometimes, the vehicle is legally parked with the key in the ignition. Sometimes, the vehicle is legally parked, but with the engine running. In this case, it was reportedly parked right in the middle of a drive-through, keys in the ignition, engine running. And this may not be good news for Mr. Forte as it is apparently his third citation.
Experienced Georgia DUI defense attorneys, know that you need all the facts and evidence to establish that the defendant intended to use his car as a motor vehicle, as opposed to just a place to “sleep it off.” The facts of any case must be carefully scrutinized by an experienced DUI defense lawyer.
If you have been charged with a DUI – especially a repeat DUI – your entire life can hang in the balance. Your license will most likely be revoked, you could lose your job and without the proper representation, you could end up in jail for an extended time.