No person wants to be arrested for breaking the law, let alone for driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol. However, if you have even a hint of alcohol in your system and you are pulled over during a traffic stop or any other form of checkpoint and they conduct a field sobriety test, learning that your limits are higher than the legal cut off, you will experience just that—an arrest. An arrest is defined as being the act of being taken into police custody for a criminal offense. You may or may not be placed in handcuffs at this time if you do not put up a fight after being told that you are under arrest. It is important to realize that if you are compliant with the arresting officers, this can be used in efforts to challenge the charges placed against you by your DUI attorney.

Obviously, an arrest cannot just occur for any reason, the arresting officer must have a particular purpose for their actions and this may occur under the following possible circumstances. First, in the event that an officer of the law first handedly witnesses a crime occur than they have the legal right to arrest the person in view. When dealing with DUI offenses specifically, this means for example, that an officer saw a driver going through the lanes recklessly, or breaking any other traffic laws. Perhaps this was you, and the officer then asks you to get out of your car and a field sobriety test is conducted. If they find that your reckless driving was because of your having a high BAC level, they will likely arrest you.

Another reason for an officer to arrest a person is in the event they have some form of probable cause to do so. For example, if the officer somehow has reason to believe or has been warned by another individual that you have been drunk driving, they may arrest you as well. Probable cause may allow them to arrest you after a crime has been committed or if you are about to commit the crime, in this case about to get behind the wheel of your car under the influence for example. Another example of probable cause (depending on the state in which you live) is if an officer witnesses a bottle being thrown out of your car as you are moving. In certain jurisdictions it is illegal to throw bottles from moving vehicles and therefore if you do so the officer may suspect you are guilty of a DUI if they find empty bottles in your car and you refuse to participate in a breathalyzer test.

Another possible circumstance for an arrest is if you happen to violate a basic traffic law, and the officer then learns that you have been intoxicated by drugs or alcohol. As stated, officers even if they suspect you might be under the influence, they must have a probable cause to pull you over and arrest you. Therefore they may use simple tactics of a broken taillight or driving with an expired license or more obvious offenses such as speeding or driving recklessly. Whatever of these causes may lead the officer to pull you over, if they approach your car and smell of alcohol, then then have probable cause to ask you to do a field sobriety test. If they learn that you BAC levels are higher than the legal limit, you may be arrested for a DUI.

In the event you have been arrested for a DUI under these listed circumstances, or in any other situation, please contact a DUI defense lawyer near you!