Today’s Times-Picayune has a nice, big story about Mandeville Mayor Eddie Price driving his SUV (a Ford Expedition owned by the city, by the way) into a toll booth barrier a little before midnight on April 22nd — Price then drove about three more miles down the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway before the police pulled him over. One more thing: he was driving with his headlights off.
And, according to the newspaper account, what happened then?
No citation, no field sobriety test, no checking the inside of the vehicle. Price apparently told the two officers that he’d just had a “couple of drinks,” they didn’t see him weaving around or slurring his words, so they let him go – although they wouldn’t let him drive, they made him call a relative to come and get him.
By now, the s*%^ has hit the fan — there’s an internal investigation at the department, Price has been ticketed (for careless operation of a motor vehicle) and the Times-Picaynue is all over this story like a duck on a junebug.
This story should sounds like something worth watching … and an interesting comparison to make for those not in the public eye, pulled over along that same stretch of road – if they say they’ve only had a couple of drinks, and they don’t obviously weave or slur their words, should they get to call home for a driver without any field sobriety testing, too? Sure sounds like an argument to be made ….
For more information:
BloomLegal Talks About Field Sobriety Tests
BloomLegal Talks About Terry Stops – When Cops Can Search Your Car
BloomLegal Talks About DUIs in Louisiana – Being Pulled Over, DUI on Your Record
