Redondo Beach DUI Arrest, No Alcohol, Set Aside at DMV

In early the mid-morning hours of March 2023, our client left his work to get a late breakfast.  He had arrived at work very early to work on a big project and had skipped breakfast to get to work faster.

By mid-morning he was famished, so he headed out.  It was raining hard and the streets were flooded in areas.  In one intersection, the traffic lights were out, so drivers were crossing the intersection by alternating the right of way to allow traffic to pass through one car at a time.

When our client went to pass through this intersection, cross traffic should have been just one car, but an additional driver snuck through.  This angered our client, so he honked at this driver who seemed to ignore the procedure followed by everyone else.

This driver responded by calling 911 to report our client appeared drunk.  The driver also observed our client heading into a fast-food restaurant parking lot to drive through the drive-through food order and pick up lane.

Officers from the Redondo Beach Police Department were dispatched to the scene and noticed our client’s car in the drive through lane.  

They waited for him to get his food and exit the area. 

After our client paid for and received his food, he attempted to head back to work and almost ran over a pedestrian running from her parked car into the restaurant.  The pedestrian was running through the parking lot into the restaurant because it was raining hard and so she ran to avoid getting too wet.

The client then continued driving, having to go around a person standing by his or her car and almost collided head-on with a second police vehicle in the parking lot driving the opposite direction.  The client then tried to apologize to the officer, but the officer then arrested him. 

 

The client, age 27, had no passengers.

Police told him they observed these two near collisions and explained the prior 911 call.

Police demanded that the client submit to a breath test and the client did so.  He had not consumed any alcohol in over twelve hours, so the breath alcohol content should have been 0.0%. 

He was then arrested and taken to the Bayside Medical where he then provided a blood sample.

He was then held at the Redondo Beach City Jail until late in the afternoon before being released. 

The same day as being released, the client called Greg Hill & Associates.  It was after 5:00 p.m.  The client explained what had happened to him and how he was apparently perceived as being under the influence of a controlled substance while driving. 

He explained that he had consumed three beers the night before at his home, but had then gone to bed before rising at about 5:00 a.m. to get to work early.  He had gone straight to work and worked for a few hours before deciding to eat breakfast.

Greg asked the client if he had taken any controlled substances, for example, such as methamphetamine, cocaine or anything else.  The client said no.  Greg asked if he used marijuana regularly and the client said no.  The client did say he was under a valid prescription for Ambien and Lexapro.

Greg explained that Ambien (the name for zolpidem, with the active ingredient being naloxone hydrochloride) was considered an opioid antagonist and was a controlled substance, so the blood test may detect it and then the question would be if our client had taken more than the prescribed dosage, i.e., he was abusing it. 

Lexapro was not a controlled substance, so its detection should not lead to any legal issues. 

Greg then explained that his office would reserve a DMV Hearing because if such a hearing was not reserved, the client would face an automatic 120 day license suspension even if he had no alcohol in his bloodstream.  This would be devastating for him since he used his car for work almost every day and using Uber or Lyft instead would impose expenses he could not afford.

Greg explained that the DMV would then review his blood results and if the client’s blood alcohol level was below 0.08%, the DMV would set aside the suspension and reinstate his driving privileges.  Greg explained that upon an arrest for DUI, the DMV suspends the driver’s license after 30 days if no hearing is requested, but requesting a hearing stays (stops) the suspension, so his office would request or reserve such a hearing for the client.

Greg Hill & Associates then reserved the DMV Hearing for the client and as expected, about 45 days later, the DMV reviewed the blood results and set aside (cancelled or lifted) the suspension. 

The client was very happy that our office had reserved the hearing to prevent the automatic suspension.

For more information about DMV Hearing issues, please click on the following articles: