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Getting Arrested For Sleeping In Your Car


If You Are Sleeping Off Alcohol In Your Car, Think Twice; The Police May Perform A Welfare Check

The police can, in most cases, do a welfare check on someone asleep in their car. They want to make sure you’re not injured, hurt, need assistance, and that how they get to knock on your car. They also want to make sure that you haven’t been drinking and driving. In most cases, like I said, they’re allowed to contact you and if they smell the odor of an alcoholic beverage on your breath or think you’re under the influence of drugs, and if they believe you have been driving, they will, almost every time, initiate a DUI investigation.

Volitional Movement: What The Police Are Looking For When They Initiate A DUI Investigation

In California there are certain elements that they need to be able to prove, and the first one is driving. They have to be able to prove there was volitional movement, which means the car has to actually move. Just being in possession of the car, with a key in the ignition, engine running is not movement, that’s not driving. The car has to move. What happens frequently in these cases is first, the police will do is try and get you to say that you have been driving sometime recently. That’s where people get in trouble.

You Should Not Admit To Driving When The Police Question You

The best defense to something like this is that you were not driving, that you got in the car. The problem that we run into is the officers will often claim that you said you were driving or that someone saw you driving, or they’ll say they felt the hood and it was warm. I’ve had officers go as far as using heat sensors to show that the hood and the wheel wells were warm. When they don’t see you driving, the case usually starts out much better.

Aaron Bortel

Attorney Aaron Bortel, Esq. discusses sleeping off alcohol in a car. Learn defense tactics and the importance of legal representation.

Call Us 24/7 For a FREE Case Evaluation (415) 367-1151

California Police Will Charge You With DUI, Even If You Are Not In The Driver’s Seat

It’s better to be in the back seat. If you’ve got the engine on and the heater going, what you have to be careful of is the officers assuming, claiming, or saying that you told them that you were driving, and that’s what they’re going to try and get you to do, no matter what seat you are in at the time.

What happens quite often is people leave a party, a bar, or wherever they were drinking, they pull over, and they go to sleep. If you get in the back seat and they can’t find the keys to the car, how do they know that you were driving or someone else wasn’t driving and left it? There are a number of possibilities. It’s best for the keys to be nowhere and for you not to be in the driver’s seat.

If You Are Charged With A DUI, It Is Best To Retain An Experienced Attorney

I just had a case recently, where my client was in the driver’s seat. The police did not see any driving, and they tried to say that she was the driver. She said she was not driving. They still went after her; they still charged her. Eventually, we got the case dismissed; which was obviously a great result.

They will go after almost anyone who’s in a car who’s been drinking, and that’s one of the reasons why someone who gets this type of a DUI needs to get an experienced DUI attorney in the Bay Area who can handle this type of situation.

For more information on DUI Arrest For Sleeping In A Car, a free initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling (415) 367-1151 today.

Aaron Bortel

Attorney Aaron Bortel, Esq. discusses sleeping off alcohol in a car. Learn defense tactics and the importance of legal representation.

Call Us 24/7 For a FREE Case Evaluation (415) 367-1151

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