Can an officer arrest me for an offence, if he pulled the vehicle behind me over and I pull over as well?

Question

(1 am) My girlfriend was following me with her vehicle, as I knew the directions as to where we were going. An officer, pulls her over for not using her signal lights to make a turn. I see the officers lights and pull over as well (assuming it's an emergency vehicle), immediately realizing it's an officer, I remain pulled over to wait for her; as I didn't want to leave her behind. The officer approached her first, then approached my vehicle...I then stated to the officer I was waiting for her. He asked me if I had been drinking, I replied "yes" and he asks me to step out of the vehicle for field sobriety test. I stand on one foot and count "one one thousand, two one thousand, etc. to thirty" without stumbling or falling over, I even take the pen test and pass; he then gives me a breathe test. I fail the breathe test... legal limit is .08, I blew .11 and the officer cuffs me and puts me in his squad. Then he proceeds to her vehicle and does the same. Can he legally do that?? ...when he initially pulled her over for a crime of no signal turning??

Answer 1

Yes your being arrested for DWI. I hope you realize it's a serious charge and, in some states, your car is confiscated. this charge will remain on your record for 3 or more years and, in some states, for life. It's a good way to ruin your life.

Answer 2

I'll have to get back to you. I'm laughing so hard that I have to go potty.

Answer 3

Yep bro, I gotta admit, that sucks...

Answer 4

Absolutely!  The cop's first hint that something funny was going on was the no-signal. He probably checked out her car (and yours too) for a bit, then lit her up when things didn't add up.  A cop can pull you over for anything under the heading of "reasonable suspicion"- like, if you weave in your lane more than once, there's pretty much something wrong.  Then once you're stopped, if he finds MORE stuff, it just piles on. So that cop wasn't limited to ticketing her just for an illegal lane change.

Say you were outside of a bar, drunk, just standing there, and a cop pulled someone over and they stopped in front of that bar. If the cop, while dealing with that driver, noticed odd behavior on your part, he could administer tests to determine if you were drunk (that'd be a public intox charge).  He could do that to anyone he saw that did out-of-the-ordinary things.

Cops look for red flags in people's behavior. h**l, YOU do that- what if you walk by a dog and then you hear him growling and you look closer at him and then he bares his fangs and takes a creeping step towards you? You probably think "oh c**p this dog's gonna rip me a new one!"  Well, the dog never said that. How did you figure that out? Because you're aware and observant, it's obvious!

So what did you do that set off red flags to the cop?

You guys were out at 1am, riding as a "pair of cars", and you pulled over voluntarily when you were not the target.

If a cop stops one car, and TWO pull over, that second car could very well be someone planning to interfere with what's going on. Put it this way: if TWO cops pull one car over, you have one cop doing the takedown with another as backup. Same with traffic stops: one cop, and two cars pull over? That's like screaming "I'M DOING SOMETHING WRONG!" to a cop.  And you were.  Your pulling over was reasonable suspicion, so he busted you.

COMoss means Correctional Officer Moss, so I'm used to seeing people doing the wrong thing while trying to appear harmlessly innocent. In law enforcement you develop a very effective (and accurate) sense for "c**p" - you most likely came across as a lot drunker than you thought you were, and he just followed his instinct.

I'd say that was bad luck, but dude- you know better than to drive drunk!  Driving 0.1 is some irresponsible behavior that shouldn't ever happen.

Answer 5

There is no problem with this arrest as you stopped your car voluntarily and the subsequent events occurred within the law.  Once you pulled over, following a car that was pulled over by the police, they had every right to ascertain if you were a threat to officer safety.  Traffic stops are one of the most dangerous arrests for cops.  That's why you stay in your car.  When they contact you, you smelled of alcohol and the DUI reasonable suspicion was there and confirmed by your BAC of.11.

Answer 6

irregardless of if he pulled you or your girlfriend over, you were driving while intoxicated which is illegal. what the officer did is perfectly legal; think of it this way, if a cop pulled you over for speeding and found a bag of weed in your car. could he bust you for the weed? yes he could.

im sorry about your situation, but the officer was just doing his job, which is upholding the law and protecting the public.

if you had lied it probably wouldn't have mattered. the officer could still tell the signs of intoxications (glazed eyes, slurred speech, and the smell of it on your breath). even if you were 100% sober, if the officer saw one of those signs he rightfully could put you through field sobriety tests.

Answer 7

Sure he can.. you broke the law. It was just his lucky night. 2 birds with one stone and all that.

Answer 8

Its all legal.  You pulled up when your girlfriend was pulled over for a traffic infraction.  The police officer is going to know why you pulled up during a traffic stop.  Chances are you looked like you had been drinking and after that it's all downhill :(.  Even if you passed the field sobriety test you failed the breathalyzer and were over the legal standard for drunk driving.

Answer 9

Absolutely.  Driving is a privilege, not a right.

Oh, and driving drunk is illegal.

Answer 10

Unfortunately the police officer was correct in issuing an citation. Placing you under arrest because you were intoxicated and a danger to the public and yourself if he allowed you to continue driving. Sorry, but the officer was just doing what he gets paid for, as the other poster stated. Get a good lawyer.

Answer 11

yep...theres nothing you can do