Perry, PA
There's no better way to encourage people to not drink and drive than citing people for walking while intoxicated when they get near a DUI checkpoint intended to nab drunk drivers.
It's all about the Benjamins, baby.Nudity, sexual acts and bags of cocaine on the dashboard are a few of the odd sights DUI experts have seen at checkpoints.
George Geisler Jr. of the Pennsylvania Driving Under the Influence Association tells the story of a driver who pulled up alongside a police vehicle before the checkpoint was even set up and confessed: "You've got me. I'm drunk."
But no one had heard of someone getting cited with public drunkenness while walking near a DUI checkpoint. Authorities said they thought the two pedestrians cited Saturday morning in Perry County were the first.
"That is a rather unique occurrence," said Geisler, who worked his first checkpoint in 1996. He and C. Stephen Erni, the executive director of the DUI Association, have manned checkpoints, and they run classes training police statewide how to effectively enforce the state's laws against driving under the influence.
"Most people, if they are walking and see a sobriety checkpoint, they go the other way," Erni said. "It's the first time I've heard of somebody walking through a sobriety checkpoint."
The two pedestrians, who were cited between midnight and 2 a.m. Saturday, were walking along and on state Route 34 in New Bloomfield when they were stopped at the checkpoint set up there, state police said. State police didn't release the men's names.
"We were not looking for them," said Cpl. Joseph Cigich of the state police in Newport. "They drew attention to themselves. If they had not been visibly drunk, we probably would not have had any encounter with them."
Cigich, who was at the checkpoint, said the men were staggering and holding each other up as they wove between the street and the berm. Both took breath tests and tested above the blood-alcohol limit at which drivers can be charged, Cigich said.
The two, who had parked their car nearby, were in danger because of their intoxication and were cited because of their behavior, Cigich said.
"It's obviously not against the law to walk after having a drink," he said. "But if you are intoxicated to the point you are creating a safety hazard, we have to get involved."
Perry County has been using DUI checkpoints for about two years, said District Attorney Charles "Chad" Chenot. This was the first time Chenot had heard of someone walking through a checkpoint.
Fran Chardo, a first assistant district attorney in Dauphin County, also could not recall hearing of someone walking through a DUI checkpoint. He said it's a person's behavior, not just drinking, that would leaded to charges.
"Being intoxicated in public is not the crime. It requires a little bit more than that," Chardo said. "The law requires intoxication to a degree that you cause a danger to yourself, others or property."
Labels: DWI/DUI sobriety checkpoints, Pennsylvania DWI/DUI News
