People are often justifiably concerned that an accusation of driving under the influence will have a negative effect on their lives. One such mistake can, unfortunately, end up having far-reaching consequences if steps aren’t taken to mitigate the damage as quickly as possible. In fact, one New York man was so concerned about his DWI charges that he apparently attempted to purchase all copies of the newspaper edition that ran a story about the arrest.
At approximately 10 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 29, the man was arrested after his vehicle had reportedly been swerving all over the road. After he came to a stop along the shoulder of roadway in upstate New York, police approached the man and administered a roadside sobriety test. The officers claim that he failed. After supposedly refusing a roadside pre-screen breath test, the man was taken to the State Police barracks.
There, he also allegedly refused to submit to a station breath test to determine his blood alcohol content. Reportedly, he even went so far as to refuse having his mugshot and fingerprints taken, fearing they might be used against him in a newspaper story about the arrest. It was reported that the man was so upset that he even cursed at one of the troopers and accused him of ruining his family.
In addition to the DWI, the man was charged with second-degree misdemeanor obstruction of governmental administration as well as traffic violations because of his supposed refusal to be processed. Follow-up stories indicate that over the weekend, the accused man visited approximately eight different newsstands in an attempt to buy up all copies of newspapers that carried reports of his arrest. It appears that he was so understandably concerned over the possibility of adverse reports of his DWI arrest that he went to some fairly extreme measures to limit the publicity. Anyone in New York involved in a similar situation would likely benefit from the counsel of a criminal defense attorney to protect important legal rights and focus on achieving the best result possible under the circumstances.
Source: 13wham.com, “Newark man, arrested for DWI, allegedly refuses mug shot to avoid publication“, Jan. 1, 2017
