Although the icy road conditions mean that drivers should take it slower than normal, you still have to keep up with traffic. One Minnesota man learned that lesson the hard way, and he ended up being arrested for DUI because of it.
An unnamed 26-year-old man from Mankato was recently arrested for drunk driving after police pulled him over because of his speed. The vast majority of the time someone gets pulled over because of their speed, it’s because they are going double digits over the speed limit. But this 26-year old had a different approach. The driver’s nightmare began when he was stopped by police after they noticed him driving down Elm Street at roughly 5 miles an hour around 3:30 am last Friday.
Slowest DUI
An officer stopped the driver on the basis that he was impeding traffic, and when talking with the driver the officer became suspicious that he was under the influence of alcohol. The officer asked the 26-year-old to submit to a breathalyzer exam which revealed that the driver had a blood-alcohol content of .168. A subsequent search of the driver’s history revealed that he had been arrested for DUI once before back in 2012.
Based on the information contained in the story, it seems like the driver could be charged with a second-degree DUI, which is is a gross misdemeanor under Minnesota law. The reason that he could be charged with a second-degree DUI is because his story contains two aggravating factors. The first aggravating factor is that he was stopped with a BAC above a 0.16, and the second aggravating factor is having a prior DUI within the last 10 years.
Since his DUI will likely be upgraded to a gross misdemeanor, the 26-year-old will face some stronger punishments. He could face fines of up to $3,000, with a minimum fine coming in at $900 plus processing fees. Moreover, the driver could face up to a year in jail. Although drivers rarely get sentenced to the maximum potential penalty, the law does state that the driver will be sentenced to a minimum of 30 days in jail. A court can order that only 48 hours be spent in jail and the remainder of the sentence be served as a house arrest, but it’s still a strong punishment that cripples your social and professional life.
The driver would be wise to seek out legal assistance to help him fight his case.
