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Last week, we discussed a traffic stop that resulted in more serious charges against a driver, based upon law enforcement’s allegations that arose during the investigatory stop. Law enforcement in Wilmington, North Carolina accuse a man of a slate of offenses based upon allegations arising before, during and after a traffic stop related to an alleged hit-and-run car accident.

Police in Wilmington, North Carolina arrested a man roughly one block away from the accident Friday. Authorities say that a witness reported that a moving vehicle had struck a parked car in Wilmington shortly before 10:15 Friday night.

Police say that the witness reported that the driver had fled the scene of the accident, and was driving without any headlights–even before the alleged wreck. An officer responding to the accident tip reportedly pulled over a 26-year-old Wilmington man roughly a block away from where the witness had reported the accident.

Law enforcement claims that the driver appeared to be impaired and refused to get out of his car when police commanded that he do so. Authorities say that the driver eventually got out of the car, but remained combative. Police say that the officer subdued the man and placed him in handcuffs, according to WWAY News Channel 3.

Law enforcement claims that the driver was put in a squad car, where authorities claim that he began kicking the back window of the cruiser. The man was transported to a hospital for medical clearance and subjected to a blood test. He was later booked into jail on suspicion of hit and run, driving while impaired, and a charge of hinder and delay.

Source: WWAY News Channel 3, “Police: Man arrested for DWI tried to kick out cruiser window,” April 15, 2013

• Our firm represents people accused of a crime in the Pitt County, North Carolina area. For more information on the firm, please visit the Greenville DWI defense page.

Greenville DUI Attorney Blog | North Carolina Underage Drinking Lawyer | Pitt County First DUI Law Firm

Maybe MADD's "War on Drunk Driving" has gone a bit too far….

D.A. Reviewing Death of West Allis Man After Taser Incident

Milwaukee, WI.  Dec. 6 — Prosecutors are investigating how West Allis police officers handled a drunken-driving suspect found dead the day after they used force and a Taser on him to obtain a blood draw…

The Milwaukee County medical examiner's office is awaiting autopsy results before determining a cause of death.  According to court and medical examiner's records:

Robert Wayne Maurina, 46, had come to the West Allis Police Department early on Nov. 28 to pick up his girlfriend after she was arrested on a drunken driving charge. Police suspected Maurina also was intoxicated and arrested him about 4 a.m. He was later charged with fifth-offense drunken driving.

At Aurora West Allis Medical Center, Maurina resisted attempts to take a blood sample, according to court records, and had to be restrained and stunned with a Taser.

Shortly before noon the same day, Maurina was released to his brother, in whose basement Maurina lived. The brother told a medical examiner's office investigator that Maurina had complained about pain to his ribs and kidney on his left side, and that he heard Maurina coughing about 7 p.m. that day.

The next morning, the brother said, he found Maurina dead in his basement room. The medical examiner's report indicated that Maurina was on several medications.

The funeral for Maurina, an Air Force veteran, was Tuesday…

No comment necessary.

(Thanks to John Kruzelock.)
 

DUI BLOG

Just when you thought MADD’s "War on Drunk Driving" had reached the limits of sanity…. 

Man Sues Police Over ‘Forced Catheterization"

Salt Lake City, UT.  May 24 - A 22-year-old college student has filed an million federal lawsuit against police in central Utah, claiming they forced a catheter in him after he refused to consent to a search for marijuana…

“I don’t think it’s right what they did,” Cook told FOX 13 on Thursday. “I’m pretty sure they’re doing it to other people. They made me feel like an animal.”

The former Snow College student said he was smoking cigarettes with friends back in 2008 when police approached their car, parked on a roadside in Ephraim. His lawsuit, filed in February in U.S. District Court, claims police searched the young men and their vehicle. The police claimed they could smell marijuana, but could not find any during a search, Cook claims.

After a K-9 still could not find marijuana, an officer popped the trunk and found a glass pipe inside. Cook claims the officers then asked him to drive his friend’s car to the police station.

“If somebody’s under the influence of marijuana, the last thing you want to do is put them in a car and drive,” said Cook’s attorney, Lindsay Jarvis. “That goes against every statute the state has, and so that’s where it gets a little frustrating and it gets out of control from there.”

Cook said he believed that after driving his friend’s car to the police station, he thought he would be free to go. Instead, he was put in a holding cell and officers demanded he take a drug test.

“I asked for an attorney because I didn’t know if this was right what they were doing,” he said. “Once I did that, they said ‘We’re getting a search warrant so we’re going to have your urine by the end of the night.’ “

Police obtained the warrant, his lawsuit claims, and they drove him to Sanpete Valley Hospital. After being told that a catheter would be inserted into his body to obtain urine, Cook said he said he would consent to giving a sample but became “nervous” and could not urinate.

“The nurse told (an officer) to hold my shoulders, so he held my shoulders and then the nurse undid my pants, wiped me down with iodine and put the tube in me,” Cook told FOX 13. “And then they took me to jail.”

Cook was arrested for marijuana possession and resisting arrest. Jarvis said the resisting arrest charge was for refusing to give a urine sample. She accused police of “bullying” people with forced catheterization.

“This is being used as a punishment to try and get them to comply,” she said. “Rather than employ a simple blood test, they’re forcibly catheterizing these people.”

Forced catheterization is a relatively new issue in the courts. A similar lawsuit was filed by a woman in 2008 against police in neighboring Sevier County. It was dismissed after a federal judge ruled the officers acted without malice and their intent was to “bring her to justice” for the charges she was facing at the time…

“I want them to be accountable for what they did,” Cook said.

If you think this incident in 2008 is an isolated one, you may be surprised to discover that forced catheterization for urine samples is a growing DUI law enforcement technique.  See, for example,  Catheter Forced Up Penis After DUI Arrest (Washington) and DUI Cops Inspired by CIA? (Indiana).  Forced draws of blood with syringes have already become a staple in the "War" – including draws with syringes used by the cops themselves:  Taking Blood by Force, Forced Blood Draws by Cops Spreading and Blood Draws in the Backseat by the Dashboard Light.     
 

DUI BLOG

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A North Carolina Highway Patrol trooper says a driver fled after the trooper tried to conduct a traffic stop on Highway 68 in Thomasville last week. Apparently the trooper was attempting to pull over the driver on allegations of speeding and to investigate a suspicion of driving while impaired. News reports do not indicate what observations the trooper made to lead him to suspect the driver of DWI before attempting the traffic stop.

Law enforcement claims a 28-year-old man from Charlotte was driving a Jeep SUV that failed to stop. After an alleged chase, the state Highway Patrol says the driver lost control of the SUV and was eventually arrested on a string of charges, including felony fleeing or eluding arrest with a motor vehicle, DWI, careless driving and reckless driving, and a red light violation.

The trooper claims the driver led a high speed chase that ended on N.C. Highway 109. Law enforcement claims the man accused of fleeing law enforcement reached speeds around 100 miles per hour in a 55 mph zone. Law enforcement claims the driver had taken the Business Loop off of Interstate 85. When the Jeep reached Highway 109, law enforcement claims the driver took a right turn too fast and slid across Highway 109.

Law enforcement apparently took the driver into custody along Highway 109, where the Jeep reportedly struck a guardrail.

The driver was booked into the Davidson County Detention Center on ,000 bail. He is scheduled to appear on the numerous charges on Dec. 14.

Source: The-Dispatch, “Man flees from trooper, crashes his Jeep,” Nov. 14, 2011

Greenville DUI Attorney Blog | North Carolina Underage Drinking Lawyer | Pitt County First DUI Law Firm

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Winnipeg police are looking for a male who allegedly sexually assaulted a woman after dragging her into an alley early Thursday.

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