Plenty of fish to catch in the net, so the Newport Beach Police thought. They were right. It isn’t really hard, either. Newport Blvd. is Deuce Alley, a place rife with bars and the drunk drivers who leave them. I’m surprised they caught only six drivers in six hours.
As I wrote back in November, checkpoint arrests require the police to issue warnings to the public that a checkpoint is going to be set up. The police also have to create an “escape” route for those who don’t want to have to go through it. Last, they have to make their procedures at the checkpoint uniform, so that everyone passing through is treated the same, with a patterned approach to stopping cars at random, rather than singling out someone.
To the general public, this sounds absurd. Why in the world would you tell someone you were going to stop them for driving drunk? Why would you let them get away? Well, this is the way the law developed and has been implemented. I didn’t create it. I represent drivers who have been arrested at checkpoints and I look to see that the police followed the correct procedure.
If you are driving under the influence, you will likely be caught at a checkpoint. Whether you live in Santa Ana, Fullerton or Tustin, if you have been charged with a DUI, call an experienced DUI defense attorney right away to assist you.
If you want to know more about driving under the influence, or your own charges, call DUI defense attorney William Weinberg @ 949.474.8008 in his Irvine office.