Drunk Tries To Weasel Way Out Of Arrest

[lordlundar]

Actually, in a number of places, public intoxication *is* illegal. It's a misdemeanor, mind, but still illegal.

Yeah, odds are he took her to the drunk tank.

[XCashier]

that kinda sucks what happened to the girl...so she was drunk, c'mon, who here doesnt get drunk? she came in and didnt do anything wrong from the start right? it didnt even seem like she was acting like a bitch or anything...

On top of that, I wasn't sure if she walked or drove as the store does have a parking space at the side of the building, so I won't necessarily see a car pull up the side. So I wasn't gonna take any chances of her bolting and may harm herself or someone else in the process.

This is why the OP called the police. The woman may have been driving, and in her state, that's dangerous.

[yizuman]

I understand that the guy was a jerk for wanting a "ride for a ride" (sorry, couldn't help it), but why the hell did she get in the car with someone she just met in the first place?

Well, she was pretty drunk. It impairs some people's judgment and have a bad tendency to get themselves into trouble.

Not everyone, mind you, but as the saying goes, "Stupid is what stupid does."

[Canarr]

This is why the OP called the police. The woman may have been driving, and in her state, that's dangerous.

Hey, I'm not questioning the OP's decision to call the police. I'm just questioning why the cop would arrest her, instead of taking her home, calling her a cab or whatever.

[yizuman]

Do we believe her story? I mean, if she had been kicked out of this stranger's car, and has no other way to get home, wouldn't she be calling for a ride, or calling a taxi, or (being a SC) whining and begging the clerk to take her home, or doing SOMEthing about it? Instead of calmly buying cigs and talking about the party?

She was driving. She just didn't want to admit this to the police.

Well, she didn't leave a car at my lot, so if this were the case, she parked across the street where we have a coffee shop, a laundry service, a haircut salon, etc.

I wasn't exactly watching traffic (car or footwalk for that matter), she just got my attention when I saw her walk in while I was sweeping up the floor.

that kinda sucks what happened to the girl...so she was drunk, c'mon, who here doesnt get drunk? she came in and didnt do anything wrong from the start right? it didnt even seem like she was acting like a bitch or anything...

The point is she was drunk and whether or not she was walking or driving, she was taking a big chance to get hurt or hurt someone else.

If she was driving as some speculate and doubt her story about being dumped by a dude, driving while DUI is basically just like driving a bullet. She's bound to frak up and hit someone.

If she was walking, she could get hit by a car or worse, someone taking advantage of her drunken state, so Lord knows what he or she might do to her.

Problem is too many people never stop and think what might happen if they got behind the wheel and what possible consequences it could bring. Some people (especially young people), they never think anything bad could happen to them. They think at some point in the time of their life, they think they're invulnerable to anything. That can lead to a fatal mistake, if they're not careful.

[yizuman]

Hey, I'm not questioning the OP's decision to call the police. I'm just questioning why the cop would arrest her, instead of taking her home, calling her a cab or whatever.

Not sure about the cab part, but the cop had his discretion laid out for her, get someone to pick her up or go to jail. We used to have a free cabbie service for drunks, but that's no longer practiced. Don't ask me why.

I'm gonna assume she knew to call a cab, but my money is her lack of money or she doesn't like cabs or something or other.

I didn't think to bring it up, but at the same time, I was trying to stay out of the cop's way. Interference can sometimes be a bad thing, depending on the situation.

[Broomjockey]

who here doesnt get drunk?

I don't. I got tipsy once 4 years ago. But that's it. Raps is completely teetotal. I'm sure there's plenty more. But that's not the point.

The point is, as people have pointed out, public intoxication is an offense in some jurisdictions. If yizuman's in just such an area, the person didn't have to do a single other thing to warrant an arrest.

And as Yiz (can I call you Yiz? )pointed out, there are more than a few reasons to call the police on even a polite drunk, just in case.

[Automan Empire]

A paramedic acquaintance was once talking about the LARGE number of people he attends that are obviously faking being knocked out, particularly at minor fender benders.

His way of dealing with it was this. He would "take their pulse" holding their arm over their face. Then he would release the arm and let it drop 2 inches onto their nose. Then he would go about his business for a bit, then recheck the pulse. The second time, the "unconscious" patient would not-so-subtly pull the arm away so it didn't drop on their nose.

Depending on the situation, he would do anything from letting them keep pretending, to pushing up an eyelid, and when the eye immediately oriented to his face would softly but firmly say, "Don't play games with the experts."

[VenomX]

I regret not calling the police on a drunk.
I was working one night and around 8pm I seen a drunk man walking down the sidewalk.

I watched him take 2 or 3 steps forward then a few back. When he got to the curb he took one step off then stepped back up, then stepped off then back on. He took two steps off and fell backwards and I could hear his heading hitting the ground. It sounded like a cantaloupe hitting the ground.

He then didn't move at all. I called 911 and the police arrived and they tried to talk to him. Nothing. There was blood coming from the back of his head and running all over the ground. The ambulance arrived and took him away. He had a big hole in the back of his head and was in the hospital for over a week.

Everytime I think about it I wish I had called. They may or may not have got there before he reached the curb But atleast I would have felt different knowing I had tried.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

that kinda sucks what happened to the girl...so she was drunk, c'mon, who here doesnt get drunk? she came in and didnt do anything wrong from the start right? it didnt even seem like she was acting like a bitch or anything...

I don't get drunk. At least not drunk enough to be stumbling around town in an obviously drunken state.

A co-workers of mine told me a story that happened to him many years ago. He was coming into work (he was on third shift at the time) and driving down a major street. There was a guy in the middle of the street and he stumbled backwards into co-worker's path. He hit the guy, who then got thrown into the oncoming lane of traffic and got hit by by somebody else going the opposite direction.

Co-worker then got sued by the guy he hit. Fortunately he won, because the guy was drunk as a skunk at the time the accident happened, and because he wasn't in a marked crosswalk.

The point being, it's better to get these schwasted people off the street. She probably just went to the drunk tank at the county jail and wasn't in with the general population. Whether driving a car or walking around, she could've harmed somebody else or had harm done to her by somebody else.

OP feels he did the right thing and I agree. I probably would've done the same.

[PepperElf]

drunk girl will never see it this way but you did her a favor

sure she got arrested for being drunk in pub-lick but...

she got there (and eventually got home) without being raped, mugged, killed, shot up with drugs... or any matter of things that could happen to a girl alone who is too drunk to pay attention to her surroundings.

and maybe she'll learn... don't get rides from strangers, unless it's the cab you call.

situational awareness is what the military calls it. keep aware of what crap's going on around you and don't put yourself in a situation where you can be hurt, raped, killed etc.

[tropicsgoddess]

She was drunk in pub-blick.....

[groveldog]

>>Party girl of about 31 or thereabouts walks into my store at 1:30 AM, wanting a pack of cigarettes. Pathetic girl wobbles as she stands and half of her speech is so badly slurred that I wonder how the hell she made it to my station in one piece.

Minus 10 years, and that was me on several occasions, although I'm sure I thought I acted fine! How is that illegal, or a threat? If she was waving around her car keys, then that might be something, though *emergency* it ain't!
In Australia that's a good Friday or Saturday night out... just add meat pie or kebab.

[Broomjockey]

Minus 10 years, and that was me on several occasions, although I'm sure I thought I acted fine! How is that illegal,

As has been pointed out several times already, there's many places where simply being that drunk and in public is illegal.

[bloodrose]

Wow. I'd never leave one of my friends hanging like that. I'd be a tad annoyed but I'd definitely be there to pick them up instead of letting them go to jail. I've helped friends of friends with car troubles, even. I cannot understand the lack of helpfulness. My instant reaction to a request from help is "yes".