Frustration

A few minutes after I posted my last entry, Ron and I were dispatched to a minor accident in a Midtown parking garage. The call sounded exactly like one that another unit had been sent to about 45 minutes earlier. I asked the dispatcher, and yes, another unit had been dispatched to the same call, cleared the call "cancelled" without arriving, and was now out on another call. The dispatcher did not know why he cleared the call cancelled, the call had not been cancelled. Now, the person was calling back asking where the police were. Outstanding. I get to do another officer's work. 

We arrived to find a very annoyed security supervisor. He was upset because he had someone in custody and had been waiting for an hour. Understandable. I asked him what was going on and he told this tale. The suspect in custody, Tom, had a few too many beers. He drove home to his nice Midtown apartment complex. He stopped at the gate to the parking garage. Once the gate opened he pulled his 2007 black BMW into the garage. Then Tom apparently got into a hurry. He slammed on the gas, lost control, and plowed into a parked Toyota truck. Which was pushed into a black Mustang which was pushed into a red BMW which was pushed into a white Maxima which came within a whisker of a green Honda. All of the airbags in Tom's vehicle deployed. But Tom kept driving. He wound his way to the top of the parking garage, somehow avoided hitting other parked vehicles along the way,  and slammed into a wall. The security guard observed Tom driving the vehicle into the wall. The guard asked Tom if he was ok, which he was. The guard immediately noticed that Tom could not keep his balance, had bloodshot eyes, and smelled like a brewery. Then Tom gave the guard his driver's license and insurance information. Tom admitted to drinking 5 beers and then driving. Tom then decided that he needed to make a phone call in his apartment. Tom began walking away and the guard told him to stop. Tom continued walking right into his apartment. About 2 minutes later when back-up had arrived, the guard knocked on Tom's door and he answered the door. The guards then took Tom into custody and called the police.

After hearing the story, I called a DWI task force officer who came to the scene and video taped Tom doing the standardized field sobriety tests. Ron and I completed the 5 car accident. The DWI officer transported Tom to Central Intox for processing. There Tom refused the breathalyzer test. Well, as of September 1st, 2009, if the breath test is refused and an accident occurred, an officer can take a blood sample following a subpoena. Blood was not taken from Tom, I have no idea why. The DWI officer called the district attorney's office who then declined to take DWI charges against Tom. The DA refused because Tom did not give a breath sample and did a decent job on the field sobriety tests. The DA wanted the DWI officer to file failed to stop and give information after being involved in an accident on Tom. The only problem is, Tom did give information. To the security guard. I realize that Tom would have just gone inside his apartment if he had not been seen by the guard, but he was seen and stopped and gave information. So the DA would not take DWI even though Tom was drunk and wanted us to file FSGI even when he did give information? Now I did not go to law school and I do not play a lawyer on TV, but this was crazy. Right after I left for the night, Ron sent me a text saying that he saw Tom leaving the police station. 

So Tom was able to drink at least 5 beers, drive home, cause a 5 car accident, try to leave the scene, then admit to drinking and driving, and go home in the morning. Absolutely amazing.       

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