On March 23, 2018 at approximately 2:30am Tampa Police Officers responded to a call of an impaired person sleeping in their car at the Thornton’s gas station on Hillsborough Ave. The vehicle was running and the Defendant was asleep in the driver’s seat. The officer tapped on the window in an attempt to wake the Defendant. The Defendant took several minutes to wake up. Upon waking the Defendant, the officer asked him to step out of the vehicle. The Defendant had an odor of alcoholic beverage on his breath and his speech was slurred. The Defendant was asked to perform field sobriety exercises which he complied. He was arrested after exhibiting multiple clues of impairment. The Defendant then refused to submit to a breath test.
Result: The firm provided information to the prosecutor that the initial interaction with the officer was in violation of the Defendant’s constitutional rights. The State then dropped the DUI charge.