Okay. I think you've had a little too much to drink tonight. Okay? So, you are going to go to jail for driving under the influence. Okay? So, go ahead and turn around for me. >> Yeah. >> Go ahead and turn around for >> Wow. I didn't even have that much to drink. 70 years? >> A woman, a red Chevrolet, a trail of damage across an Ohio highway, and a legal argument at the roadside that neither side got entirely right. >> Hello. Can you step out for me? >> Yeah. >> What's going on? >> Nothing. >> Is it in park? >> Yeah, it is. >> What did you hit? >> A curb. >> Just a curb? >> Yeah. Uh, coming off the freeway over there, I hit a curb. >> Where did you get off the freeway at? >> Um, I'm not for sure. I'm coming back from Cleveland. >> Cleveland? Okay. >> Yeah, I'm headed to Youngstown. >> you can't drive like that. All right, where you headed to? >> Youngstown. >> Youngstown. Okay. Any reason you got off the highway? >> I'm following the GPS. Yes. >> Okay. All right. Oh. >> Oh. >> Where is it? I'm going to grab it. >> It's on the S and M on phone. >> It's on your phone? >> in the phone case. >> All right, go ahead and step back there. Radio, 12-25. How much did you drink tonight? >> Two shots. >> Two shots. How long ago was that? >> Um 7 minutes about an hour and a half ago. >> All right, let's go. Okay. Was that at Cleveland where you're coming from? Okay. You know the English alphabet? >> English alphabet? >> Yeah, just alphabet. All right, can I have you say it from starting at the letter C as in Charlie and stopping at the letter Q as in Queen. You're going to start at C. Say it till Q and then stop. >> C D E F G H I L H I J K L M N O P Q You said Q, right? >> Yeah. All right, I'm going to show you one thing here. You're going to touch the tip of your finger, I'm sorry, the tip of your thumb to the tip of each finger counting from one to four and then back down from four to one. It's going to look like this. 1 2 3 4 4 3 2 1 1 2 3 4 4 3 2 1 >> 1 2 3 4 4 3 2 1 1 2 3 4 4 3 2 1 >> Okay. And you're going to Young Sound, you said? >> Yeah. >> Okay. And where did you exactly hit this curb? >> Um, I literally just hit it like coming off the freeway. I don't know where the freeway is. I'm just following my GPS, but I just hit it. >> Okay. All right. >> a a mile ago, a half a mile ago. >> All right, and you said you were just following the GPS? >> Yeah. I don't I don't exactly know where I'm going, but that's what I was following, the GPS. >> Okay. All right. So, I smell alcohol on your breath, all right? So, I'm going to run you through some tests and make sure you're okay to drive, all right? So, just give me one minute if you want to talk to this officer. >> Rest up here. >> Yes, relax. All right. Have you had any head head injuries or anything like that in the past? In in past, any issues with your vision, anything like that? Okay. If I could just have you face me, you know, stand with your feet together, hands down at your sides just like this. Do you wear contacts or glasses? No? Okay. All right. So, I'm going to check your eyes. You're going to keep your head still. You're just going to look at the tip of this pen. Yeah. Any issues seeing the tip of that pen? No? Okay. You're going to follow the movement of the pen with your eyes only. Keep following the pen with your eyes until you're told the test is over. Make sense? Any questions for me? >> The stop rests on two independent pillars. A corroborated citizen tip and direct officer observation of speeding. The Supreme Court in Terry versus Ohio established that reasonable suspicion, specific articulable facts, is all that is required. Both pillars are present. The stop is constitutionally sound. The subject then volunteered she had been drinking. The Supreme Court held in Berkemer versus McCarty that roadside questioning during a traffic stop is not custodial interrogation. No Miranda warning required. Every word she said is admissible. The Ohio Supreme Court in State versus Homan held that field sobriety test results are only admissible when administered in strict compliance with NHTSA protocols. The officer's pre-test medical screening, head injuries, vision issues, corrective lenses, satisfies that mandatory threshold. Three standardized tests follow. HGN, six clues, 88% accuracy. Walk and turn, eight clues, 68%. One leg stand, four clues, 65%. The officer instructs, demonstrates, and allows a restart all within NHTSA protocol. The evidentiary foundation holds. >> Okay. Okay. Yes. You got a coat or anything in the car? Nothing? Okay. I'm going to have you just step over to this white line here. Do you have shoes in the car that you want to put on? Sure you're okay? All right. >> 73 down here. >> I'm going to have you place your left foot on that white line. And you're going to place your right foot in front of your left foot with the heel of your right foot against the toe of your left foot. So, just like this. You got your left foot on the line, right foot in front, heel to toe, out loud. Once you start walking, don't stop until you get Do you understand all the instructions? Any questions for me? Anything else I can clarify? Okay, go ahead and start whenever you're ready. Make sure you're watching your feet. She was She was getting You were getting off 271 northbound? >> Originally, when I was coming, she was moving at a really, really slow slow uh um She was traveling very, very like uh on the highway, she was going like 45 mph. >> Okay, she Okay. >> Um and then I watched her go through um three different lanes of travel without signaling. And then she was just going back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. Um and then she went to exit like she was getting off, but she was getting >> Chagrin you 271 north, right? >> Yes. >> Or south? >> North. >> You were going that way. >> Correct. >> Yeah. She got off. >> exited like she was going there. And then as she was exiting, she hit that there was like a road sign or something. One of the road signs. She took it right off and then got back on 271. >> North? >> North and then she drove all the way up >> to Cedar? >> And then she >> She came Cedar then all the way over to Richmond and Richmond south? >> Yes. >> Okay. Okay, you can step back over here. We'll get out of the roadway. >> Okay, this next one is another balance test, okay? I'm going to have you stand with your feet together and your arms at your sides just like this. >> Okay, do not start to perform the test until I tell you to do so. Do you understand the instructions so far? Yeah, okay. When I tell you to start, you're going to raise either leg of your choosing with the foot approximately 6 in off the ground keeping your raised foot parallel to the ground. I'll demonstrate that for you. You must keep both legs straight, arms at your sides. While holding this position, you're going to count out loud in the following manner: 1001, 1002, 1003, and so on until told to stop. While you're doing this, you're going to keep your arms at your sides at all times and keep watching your raised foot. Do you understand the instructions? Okay, give me one All right, go ahead and start whenever you're ready. >> 1001, 1002, 1003, 1004, you're Make sure you're watching your foot. Just go ahead and restart your breath. Okay. I think you've had a little too much to drink tonight, okay? So, you're going to go to jail for driving under the influence, okay? So, go ahead and turn around for me. >> Yeah. >> Go ahead and turn around for >> Wow. I didn't even have that much to drink. Got to get You know what? How about we test again? >> Yeah. >> want to test again? >> If you uh >> No, you Cuz I didn't even have that much to >> Yeah, you got an opportunity to provide a breathalyzer for you here once we get back to the station, okay? >> Can we do a breathalyzer here? >> No, it has to be done at our station. All right, just step back to this patrol car. Do you need anything out of the >> If she struck the uh the old outside that's in still in our city, yes. Yeah. And it you you obviously observed her the whole time since then. Yeah. Were you in the express or local? >> I started off um actually started off seeing her all over the road. >> Okay. >> At the high-level bridge. >> Okay. Were you you were in local lanes? Does an express Like you were in the you were in the >> Yes, local lanes. >> Yeah. Do you need anything out of out of the car? You got a wallet or phone charger anything like that? >> No. >> Okay. Can you stand right here? See for me. >> Triple A, yeah. >> What's that? >> I want Can I call Triple A? >> No, we have to tow the car. So, it's going to go to our impound. >> I don't have time to get it out the impound. >> You want to tow it? >> drive it. It's You got all the air >> can I call Triple A? >> No. No, we have to tow it cuz nobody can drive it out of here. It's undrivable. It's probably going to be totaled. So, it goes to our police impound. So, then >> After that, I will be able to get it out out the impound. >> I don't think this car is going to be driving, but yes, you >> I understand that. >> Take him to the city jail. She injured She said she's injured, though? >> No. She didn't appear to She had a pole of some sort. Look at the ground. It's got to be like a Maybe the witness knows. That's I think that's her. Here she comes. >> Tells 98, right? >> Yeah. >> This guy. >> Well, we'll see what I thought maybe that person was a friend of English driving on that side. I was like, what? >> Is that who his witness was? >> No, I think that's the car next to the palm. All right, put this You can get it towed to the impound. Yes. >> Yes. >> Towed towed to the impound. >> No, because you're under arrest. It's building one But, I'm under arrest because of >> OVI, operating vehicle under the influence. >> Going to be in the parking lot facing building one. Building one. >> Based on the test, I I don't believe the test results. >> Based on the test? >> Yeah. You'll have an opportunity to provide a breath sample once when back to the station. >> And then if that comes back clear, then what? >> Then we talk about you're still going to be charged with operating under the influence. You're just going to be charged with >> back clear? >> Correct. >> Then how >> All right. >> How? >> We'll talk about everything when we get back to the station after we read you your implied consent >> clear, then I can't be charged with the OVI. >> That's not correct, but >> No, that is correct. Cuz if if my breathalyzer come back clear, then I can't be charged with the OVI because it's not >> Whoever told you that was incorrect, okay? We'll go over everything once we get back. You are under arrest, so there's you're going to be charged with OVI. >> obviously, but because if the breathalyzer come back clear, I will still be charged. >> Yes. >> That's it. >> You are You've already been charged with OVI. I'm already charging you right now. Okay? I'll talk to you back when we get back to the station, okay? >> Here is where the encounter gets legally interesting. The subject insists a clean breathalyzer will clear the OVI charge. She is wrong. So is the officer's response. Ohio's OVI statute revised code 4511.19 creates two independent offenses. Per se OVI, a BAC at or above .08, and observed impairment OVI, which requires no chemical result whatsoever. A clean breathalyzer kills the per se count. It leaves the impairment count untouched. The officer had three SFSTs, a civilian witness, and documented erratic driving. That is independent probable cause. The officer was substantively correct, but his failure to explain why exposed a communication gap that belongs in training, not on a roadside. On the tow, Ohio law mandates police impoundment for OVI arrest. AAA is not an option. The vehicle's collision damage added a separate unsafe vehicle citation under Ohio revised code 4513.02. Both calls were legally correct. The civilian witness independently corroborated every element of the initial report. Erratic speed, three unsignaled lane changes, the sign strike, the flight. The Supreme Court in Illinois versus Gates established that corroborated citizen detail carries substantial weight in establishing probable cause, and here it anchored the entire chain. BAC came back at approximately .13, 62% over the legal limit. Chemistry confirmed what the field tests and the witness already established. Grades. The officer, B+. Procedurally clean from stop to arrest. Demerit for failing to accurately explain the dual theory OVI when directly challenged. A moment that required legal clarity, not repetition. The subject, B-. Full physical compliance protected her legally and kept the situation from escalating. Demerit for voluntary admissions she had no obligation to make and for arguing law at a roadside, a fight won only in court. The witness, A. Detailed, consistent, corroborated. Exactly what civic engagement looks like. Key takeaways. First, a clean breathalyzer does not clear an OVI. Revised code 4511.19 means observed impairment stands on its own. Know the law before you argue it at the scene. Second, traffic stop statements are not protected. You are not in custody. Anything volunteered before arrest goes directly into the evidentiary record. Third, SFST protocol is the difference between admissible evidence and a suppression hearing. This officer knew that. Strict compliance is not optional, it is the job. Let us know if there is an interaction or legal topic that you would like us to discuss in the comments below. Thank you for watching and don't forget to check out our second channel, Street Body Cam, for even more police interaction and courtroom content. >> Watch your side, partner.