What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California
So I had pizza and a beer for dinner. I left the restaurant and made an illegal left. Drove down two blocks to go to my sports gym/club to play. Right before I pulled into the lot, the officer flashed his lights, so I pulled into the lot and stopped. He pulled me over and told me I made the illegal left. Took license and registration, the usual.
I get Asian glow when drinking, so the beer (20oz) had me a little glowing. I also smell very strong of beer when I do drink. So the officer smells it and asks if I had been drinking. He works for the city, but was patrolling around the local college campus, so he knew that I just came out of the brewery. I told him "yes, I had a pizza and a beer".
Told me to sit tight, and in a few minutes four other police cars pulled up plus a highway patrol. So I'm just this 21 yr old chilling in the car after I had a beer and surrounded by 6 police cars, I thought that was a bit silly.
This was all in the parking lot, happening in front of people I regularly see, so that kind of sucked. Took me out of the car and conducted a field sobriety test and all that good stuff. Of course, he told me that I failed and that he would have to take me in. He wouldn't show me the results of the Preliminary Alcohol Screening, but I can confidently say that it was near 0. By the time they took it, it was over an hour after I had finished my beer. So he handcuffed me and took me back to the police station to perform a breath test on me.
So of course I passed the breath test. There was literally no alcohol in my system by the time I reached the police station and he got the machine all set up. So they released me with a detention certificate and let me on my jolly way. No traffic ticket. Although they were pretty nice about it the whole time, I was pretty much just chatting with all the officers while they were deciding what to do, it seemed kind of ridiculous and definitely cut into my night.
So my question here is: was there something they did wrong? I can't see the justification in surrounding me in a parking lot when I had shown complete cooperation, then taking me in when I had almost no alcohol in my system (although they did say the PAS can be inaccurate). Most importantly, was this all within their ability to perform while having me under detention? With 6 officers there testing me, then taking me to the station even when I knew I was sober, had me starting to think that I was guilty for sure.
Thanks for the opinions!
So I had pizza and a beer for dinner. I left the restaurant and made an illegal left. Drove down two blocks to go to my sports gym/club to play. Right before I pulled into the lot, the officer flashed his lights, so I pulled into the lot and stopped. He pulled me over and told me I made the illegal left. Took license and registration, the usual.
I get Asian glow when drinking, so the beer (20oz) had me a little glowing. I also smell very strong of beer when I do drink. So the officer smells it and asks if I had been drinking. He works for the city, but was patrolling around the local college campus, so he knew that I just came out of the brewery. I told him "yes, I had a pizza and a beer".
Told me to sit tight, and in a few minutes four other police cars pulled up plus a highway patrol. So I'm just this 21 yr old chilling in the car after I had a beer and surrounded by 6 police cars, I thought that was a bit silly.
This was all in the parking lot, happening in front of people I regularly see, so that kind of sucked. Took me out of the car and conducted a field sobriety test and all that good stuff. Of course, he told me that I failed and that he would have to take me in. He wouldn't show me the results of the Preliminary Alcohol Screening, but I can confidently say that it was near 0. By the time they took it, it was over an hour after I had finished my beer. So he handcuffed me and took me back to the police station to perform a breath test on me.
So of course I passed the breath test. There was literally no alcohol in my system by the time I reached the police station and he got the machine all set up. So they released me with a detention certificate and let me on my jolly way. No traffic ticket. Although they were pretty nice about it the whole time, I was pretty much just chatting with all the officers while they were deciding what to do, it seemed kind of ridiculous and definitely cut into my night.
So my question here is: was there something they did wrong? I can't see the justification in surrounding me in a parking lot when I had shown complete cooperation, then taking me in when I had almost no alcohol in my system (although they did say the PAS can be inaccurate). Most importantly, was this all within their ability to perform while having me under detention? With 6 officers there testing me, then taking me to the station even when I knew I was sober, had me starting to think that I was guilty for sure.
Thanks for the opinions!
