On July 1, a woman was discovered slumped over in the driver’s seat of a 2007 Hyundai Accent in Atlanta, according to a spokesperson with local police. Her car was parked near railroad tracks in the 700 block of McDaniel Street when two officers with Atlanta Police saw the vehicle, approached the car and found her asleep at the steering wheel.
Authorities said a whistle from a passing train sounded and woke the woman. Upon awakening and spotting the officers, she attempted to flee the scene. When she did, one of the police officers reached inside the car to stop her, but he was dragged by the car until it ran into a pole, ending the drive-off attempt.
The officer suffered fractures to his left hand, as well as arm, leg and head lacerations. He was transported to Grady Memorial Hospital. The woman driving the Hyundai was taken into custody and transported to the Fulton County Jail. She was charged with obstruction, providing a false name, driving on a suspended license, aggravated assault, reckless driving, possession of methamphetamine, serious injury by motor vehicle and DUI. According to the spokesperson with the Atlanta Police, she also has an active warrant in Florida for a drug possession charge.
Although the woman from this incident was charged with multiple offenses, many drivers are taken into custody for a sole DUI charge. Often, the charge is a first, and a conviction usually results in less harsh punishment than a second or third offense would. A DUI attorney can sometimes help those accused of drunk driving by challenging the calibration of a breath or blood test used to measure a client’s BAC.
Source: WXIA, “DUI driver charged with dragging police officer,” Beth Sawicki, July 1, 2014
Source: CBS News, “Suspected DUI driver accused of dragging police officer“, Crimesider Staff, July 03, 2014