Letter to the editor: Witness alleges police misconduct regarding possible DUI
To the editor,
–On Sunday, Aug. 23, at approximately 3:50 p.m., I was driving east on Serenade Drive, approaching Brahma Street. I witnessed a silver Toyota Tacoma stopped at the stop sign of Brahma at Serenade. The vehicle was stopped halfway over the white limit line. As I passed Brahma, I noticed the driver appeared unconscious, with his head leaning against the door. I stopped my vehicle and approached the vehicle. I noticed the vehicle was on, with the radio blasting.
I attempted to wake the driver with no success. I called 911. While I waited for the police. A woman in a white BMW stopped. She immediately approached the vehicle and began trying to wake the driver. I asked her what she was doing. She said the driver is a friend of hers. I explained that she should wait for the police to arrive. She responded that she was going to try to get him into her vehicle. The man regained consciousness. He could barely speak and could not get himself out of the vehicle. When the officer arrived, he walked over to the vehicle and stated, “you can either go with her or go to jail.” He repeated this several times as the man could barely try to get out of the vehicle.
After finally assisting this man to the vehicle, the woman shook the officer’s hand and thanked him for not arresting the man. After they left, I asked the officer why he did not conduct a DUI investigation. He stated, “The DA will not allow me to arrest him, because I did not see him driving.” I am a retired CHP officer. California Vehicle Code 40300.5 allows for an Officer to arrest an individual for DUI without actually seeing them drive.
I believe this man has a serious substance abuse problem. The woman was clearly aware he has some type of issue and at no time did she try and explain he had a medical condition to me or the officer. Even if this is a medical issue, he is a danger while driving. I contacted the watch commander on duty. He basically told me in not so many words that the DA has rejected a lot of their DUI cases recently.
I spoke to an assistant district attorney. He is looking into this incident. This is unacceptable. The level that this person was impaired is a major safety concern for our neighborhood. I see many residents walking the neighborhood and many of your children playing in the streets. In my opinion, the officer should have done a DUI investigation regardless of whether the DA will or will not prosecute. If I had done what this officer did when I was a CHP officer, I could have been fired. As far as I know, this officer has not been punished.
Pete Bishop
Paso Robles
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