A Humble, Texas DWI Arrest
As a Houston DWI lawyer I have come across a few memorable DWI videos during my time, but I have never come across one where the police officer leaves the decision to arrest someone to chance. That is exactly what a Humble, Texas police officer decided to do in a drunk driving case that I was representing recently. The short version of this incident is that the officer, after stopping my client for a traffic violation states on video that if my client's girlfriend answers his phone call and comes to the scene to pick him up he will not arrest him for DWI. The catch of course, is that if she does not answer the phone he will be booked for DWI. Unfortunately luck was not on his side that night. His girlfriend failed to answer his call. Meanwhile, the officer neglects to have my client perform any field sobriety tests to actually determine if he is intoxicated before arresting him. This is comparable to flipping a coin before deciding to arrest someone.
Once I brought these facts to the prosecutor's attention she could not believe this was the case. After viewing the video for herself she was equally astonished and eventually dismissed the case. My concern is that this officer is not going to be reprimanded or told that his actions were improper. Is this really how the Humble,Texas police are going to decide how to arrest someone for DWI? Has anyone come across an officer claiming to release someone to a friend or family member based on a chance phone call, or was this an isolated incident?
