• 20
  • February
    2012

Although the following incident did not take place in New York, it provides an interesting example of one of the many criminal charges that can result from a DWI arrest - even if you were not the one who was driving drunk.

According to police reports, the drunk driving incident took place in April 2010 when two friends went together to a local festival. Following the event, at which both men were drinking, the pair left together in a pickup truck owned by one of the two men. The man who did not own the vehicle, however, was driving.

When the driver pulled out on the road, he allegedly did so directly in front of a motorcycle that was carrying two people. The motorcycle collided with the side of the pickup truck, killing the driver of the bike and injuring his passenger.

Last year, the man who was driving the pickup truck pleaded guilty to DWI charges. Police reports from the night of the crash allegedly revealed that his blood alcohol level had been twice the legal limit when he pulled out in front of the motorcycle. He was sentenced to at least six years and three months in jail.

The owner of the pickup truck was also criminally charged for his role in the fatal crash. Last month, he pleaded guilty to allowing a person to drive drunk causing death and allowing a person to drive drunk causing serious injury. He was sentenced to seven months in jail as well as three years of supervised probation.

Source: Lansing State Journal, "Eaton Rapids owner of truck in fatal drunk driving crash sentenced," Kevin Grasha, Feb. 10, 2012