Man Hides in Bar After Hit-and-Run Accident
Posted in General on January 12, 2015
An Ohio man was involved in a hit-and-run accident, and, after deputies arrived at the scene, he fled. Instead of heading home to hideout, he chose to stop at a nearby bar. Upon entering the bar, the man also allegedly told a fellow bar patron that he needed a beer because he had just been involved in an accident. The patron called the police, and the police were able to arrest the man before he had a chance to get his beer.
Drinking After Driving Defense in DUI Case
While this story is pretty amusing, I suspect that the man may have already been drinking and was probably facing a driving under the influence charge. Therefore, by stopping off at the bar, he was hoping to get a few drinks in him and then claim that he had been drinking after the accident as opposed to before the accident. I am sure that people have heard stories about DUI cases in which drivers pull a bottle of liquor out of the glove compartment and take long swigs before the police arrive.
Under the current Pennsylvania DUI law, the prosecutors do not need to prove what your blood alcohol level was at the time of driving but instead need only show what the blood alcohol concentration was within two hours of driving. Since the prior driving under the influence law required proof of the alcohol level at the time of driving, the person would drink after driving and claim that the alcohol concentration was much lower when the actual driving occurred. Now, drinking after driving is not really a defense but would instead allow the prosecutor take the increased alcohol level and seek increased DUI penalties. Generally speaking, the higher the alcohol level, the more severe the mandatory minimum penalties in a Pennsylvania driving under the influence case.