Illinois police say several people reported a concerning situation just before noon on a recent Thursday. Officers were dispatched to the scene after reports were called in stating that a vehicle near a local golf course had been veering into oncoming traffic and had come quite close to causing multiple collisions. The incident ultimately resulted in drunk driving charges against the man who was behind the wheel of the vehicle in question.
When police arrived, they say they located the car in the parking lot of the golf course. Officers also stated they suspected the driver of the car was intoxicated, so they requested that he submit to field sobriety tests. As is the right of any person facing such a request in a similar situation, the man refused to take the field tests.
There are no legal repercussions nor administrative penalties for refusing to take a field sobriety test. Although the man at the golf course refused the tests, police still arrested him and prosecutors filed drunk driving charges against him. He is scheduled to appear in court in March.
If a person has already been convicted of drunk driving charges in Illinois, penalties for an additional conviction can be quite severe. Even for a first offense, punishment may include up to a year behind bars and substantial fines as high as $2,500. A second violation enables a judge to sentence a convicted driver to five years in prison. An experienced criminal defense attorney may be able to help mitigate a defendant’s circumstances by using various strategies to try to unravel prosecutors’ case.
