i was arrested at 3:30am(ish) after work.It was a very cold night, and I saw a girl walking alone in shorts in a tank top on the other side of the side of the desolate street and slowed to ask if she needed a ride. she turned and graciously accepted although at this point I realized she was a middle aged woman of questionable... nature and... well, sanity, but it was too late. (yes, I am aware I can be too quick to be overly sympathetic and naive in situations for which I have no context)I was .5 miles from my house and informed her of as much as I pulled over and back out and turned, at which point i was pulled over.
they ask if i know why im being pulled over. i dont, so they inform me that i was driving on the wrong side of the road. i informed them of what actually happened and they asked if i had had anything to drink, and I said that i had had 2 shots of whiskey between 9 and 10pm (so over 6 hours ago) and that was it. approximately 6 people asked me the same question throughout the night and pretty early on i realized what i had presumed was mere honesty and perhaps excessive genuinity would be perceived as an admission of guilt, and assumed a modest approximation.
my only genuine offense was that my lisence had expired, and I explained to the cop how I had received a violation for parking in a handicap zone in MA when I lived in NY, that the charge and further fees were upwards of $1000 at this point and i had been working that night despite extreme exhaustion exclusively to remedy that.
I assumed the sobriety tests were somewhat of a formality, and, exhausted,, teeth chattering and violently shivering in the cold, i complied as best I was able. at one point he had me hold one foot up and count until toldd otherwise, which i did despite intense shivering, and upon approaching ten he ordered 'higher!" and had me continuewith my foot about two feet off the ground (i am about 5'4) until 20. I was not allowed to approach my vehicle for a jacket, however, next thing I knew, an officer was scouring my purse. I wanted rto ask when I had consented them could search my things, but have previously been refuted with an explanation that my lack of consent constituted probable cause.
I was arrested for 'driving under the influence'. I asked if i could be breathalized. they informed me this owuld happen. I asked if i could have my car picked up by my roommate and not towed and was told the other cop, who I was next placed in the car of, would handle this. I repeated both questions to him. He repeated the first answer and that it was being towed. I became desperate and explained I really couldn't afford it, I was already overworking to afford the license renewal, and he outbursted that i didnt even have a license.
it was about 40 degrees at the jail, where i was finally breathalized and placed in holding. I shivered through the first six hours or so, was briefly informed of my charges (expired lisence, driving on the wrong side of the road, and nothing about alcohol because i WAS NOT INTOXICATED, as i had explained) and 2 hours or so later, photographed and fingerprinted. about 2 hours further, moderately delirious with cold and sleep deprivation, I approached the desk to inquire my status and was ordered to sit until i was called. about 2 hours after that I asked a guard and he said he would check. i was finally called into a courtroom with the cell detainees where the present policeman was [freaking out] about how long ago i should hav been seen and released. as we waited in silence for the judge, one prisoner suddenly spoke up. 'im here for j-walking,' he said, ' i just thought everybody should know that.' the cop fresponded with, 'how about for sleeping?" supposedly another prisionor in the last meeting was there for that reason.
they again never called my name, so as the judge attempted to wrap up i raisedd my hand and was FINALLY addressed. I was told my charges and returned to holding, where i waited another 3 hours during which a girl arrived who had been pulled over with her boyfriend for stopped past the white line and then, when searching her car, the cop found an empty bottle of some sort and itr was likewise towed, despite literally being in front of her house.
I was then again [chastised]for approaching the desk to ask my status, and a guard asked [what was up], and again said he would check for me. about half an hour later i was called and finally released about 16 hours after having arrived, they did not give me a single paper, about a court case, or anything, and i never even later received one. i finally escaped, and at the same time as the prisoner who, as it turns out, really had been arrested for "sleeping in public". my car was towed about 14 miles south and nearly impossible/more expensive to retrieve because i did not have a valid license. read more