There is an old joke that the most common last words are, "Hold my beer and watch this." The joke just goes to demonstrate the fact that sometimes, peopledo really stupid things when they are under the influence of alcohol. The actions of a 19-year-old man in Pennsylvania seem to prove the point.
Reports say Logan Shaulis, 19, of Somerset, Pennsylvania, parked his car diagonally across a roadway in the early morning hours on Saturday, May 30. Theteen set up road flares and began stopping motorists and demanding their licenses and registration. Motorists became suspicious when they noticed unusualcircumstances about the sobriety checkpoint: the late time (close to 4:00 a.m.), the roadblock was manned by only one "officer," and that the purportedstate trooper seemed to be slurring his speech.
When real state troopers arrived, the young man allegedly tried to hand a B.B. gun to a passenger in the car he stopped, saying, "I can't get caughtwith this." In addition to the B.B. gun, troopers say he also had a pair of handcuffs and a police scanner.
Shaulis was arrested on charges of DUI, public intoxication, disorderly conduct, carrying a firearm without a license, possession of an instrumentof crime, impersonating a public servant, unlawful restraint, criminal coercion, and harassment.
It is a bad idea to drive drunk. It is a bad idea to impersonate an officer. Combining the two to make a fake DUI roadblock while drunk? Well, let's justsay that didn't work out too well for Shaulis, who is now facing multiple criminal charges.
Around the country, DUI arrests seem to go up during the summer season. With the Fourth of July weekend coming up next month, you can expect to see DUIcheckpoints around Oklahoma, particularly in the Oklahoma City and Tulsa metro areas. Often, these DUI roadblocks seem to have more success as warrantsweeps than sobriety checkpoints, with fewer arrests from DUI than from outstanding warrants. Regardless, it is important to refrain from driving underthe influence of alcohol or drugs at any time to avoid a dangerous DUI accident. And if you have an outstanding warrant, it is better to talk to anattorney to reach a proactive solution rather than to face unexpected arrest in a traffic stop.
For help with DUI defense or resolving an outstanding warrant, call the Law Firm of Oklahoma at (405) 608-4990.
