Last one, okay? Get back with your arms to your Oh, is that your side, please? >> I'm going to try my best. >> Perfect. Take your time. >> I'm so sorry about this. >> It's all right. >> 5 6 7 8 9 >> [music] >> All right. All right, you may begin when you're ready. >> [music] >> 1 1,000 2 1,000 3 1,000 4 1,000 5 1,000 [music] 6 1,000 7 >> I mean, seat belt you. Can you just face away from me? >> [music] >> Just after midnight in Morris Township, New Jersey, an 18-year-old pulls up to a bar to do the responsible thing, pick up her older sister who's been drinking inside. One problem. The rescue driver, the sober ride, can't recite the alphabet from C to R. >> [music] >> She can't count backwards from 45. And when the breath test comes back, the number on the screen is nearly double the legal limit for [music] someone allowed to drink at all. This is how the designated driver became the arrest. >> [music] >> July 30th, 2023, 12:37 in the morning. Patrolman Panagiotis Chekouras of the Morris Township [music] Police Department spots a black Audi A5 doing two things at once, >> [music] >> speeding and swerving across lanes near 162 Ridgedale Avenue. He follows. The swerving continues onto John Street. >> [music] >> Lights on. The Audi pulls over directly in front of the Fringe Lounge, a bar at 4 John Street. And that location is about to become the punchline of the entire [music] stop. Behind the wheel, 18-year-old Elizabeth Misuraca. The officer smells alcohol immediately. Elizabeth [music] insists she hasn't had a drop, so he gives her two simple mental checks. Recite the alphabet. Not the whole thing, >> [music] >> just C to R. She can't. Count backwards from 45 to 25. She can't do that either. And then she volunteers the detail that makes this stop unforgettable. >> Hey, what's going on? >> Hi, how are you? >> Can I see your license, registration, insurance, please? >> Yeah, of course. >> What was that? >> Is everything good? >> Yeah. Can you just do me a favor, uh, what's your highest level of education? >> I just graduated high school. >> You just graduated high school. All right. So, safe to say you're comfortable with the English alphabet? >> 47, 26, 25. >> Okay, perfect. All right. So, uh, it's obviously past 11:00. You have a provisional license still. >> Yes. >> So, is there a reason you're driving this late? >> Yes, just to pick up my sister. >> Okay. And you you guys were coming from where? >> We're coming from my house. >> Okay. All right. >> She's here to pick up her 19-year-old sister from the bar, and she admits her sister is too young to be drinking there, too. Think that through. The underage rescue driver arriving drunk to collect the underage drinker. Out of the car, the formal tests begin. The eye test, horizontal gaze nystagmus, shows four of six indicators of impairment. The walk and turn, [music] she misses heel to toe, takes the wrong number of steps, turns improperly. The one leg stand, [music] wrong form, foot down early. Strike three. >> I just walked to the front of my car. You guys just hang tight in the car, all right? If you need anything, just put your hands out the window, all right? Just stand uh stand back towards my car and face me. I know it's a little loud, just bear with me, okay? All right. So, just stand up straight and don't lean on my car. All right, I know it's a little bit uphill here, but I'm going to take this into account, all right? Just going to make sure you're okay to drive, all right? >> know, man. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm just really scared. I'm Like I've never really been pulled over before. >> Okay. >> My mom does I thought it was cuz of my mom, cuz my mom doesn't have a license and my car's registered in my mom's name. >> I'm sorry. I'm >> Yeah, no. I mean, I already explained to you why I stopped you. I wasn't the reason. It was just you were over the double yellow line on Ridgedale and you were Keep your left foot on the line and turn left by taking a small series of steps with your other foot. >> Okay, so it's nine here, it's nine back. >> Correct. All right. >> Okay. >> [music] >> Put it out. >> like this? >> No, I'm going to demonstrate, so let me just [music] finish explaining first, all right? >> 1 1,000 >> Elizabeth is placed under arrest for driving under the influence. The search of the Audi turns up multiple open containers. The car is impounded for a mandatory 12-hour hold under John's Law, a New Jersey statute named for a young man killed by a drunk driver who'd been released back to his car. At the neighboring Morristown Police [music] Department, she agrees to the breath test. >> [music] >> All right, do you have anything on you that I should be aware? I'm going to search you with the outside of my with my hand? >> lip gloss, lip liner. >> No, like illegal narcotics, weapons, anything like that? >> I'm 18. Why would I have >> I understand that, but I still have to ask. Okay. Stand with her while I mean see felt you. Can you just face away from me? >> [music] >> Can you just stay in the car for me? >> Yes, um I should have a couple >> All right, what's going on? >> So, like >> So, she was placed under arrest for driving under the influence of alcohol, okay? I believe she's had something to drink tonight. She's obviously 18 years old, so she can't have any alcohol at all. >> So, she's 18. >> Correct. >> All right, listen, I'm going to be completely honest. I am [music] 18. I wish I I don't remember this, but I have had something to drink. >> Okay. >> She not. >> Okay. >> That's I trust her to drive. >> Okay. >> Both of our parents are very strict about it. >> Okay. >> I don't know if she did a test or I'm sure you did your test. >> I mean, like I said >> So, she is not under the influence. Again, like I said, both of our parents >> [music] >> I got a bottle of wine back here. Do you have any alcohol in you? >> take care of her. Is this going to be any charges against like college or >> It's not criminal charges. >> Okay, understood. >> motor vehicle. So, it's it's essentially a ticket with a court date that she'll have to No, it's on her license, so she'll have to go to court >> Okay, okay. >> and and take care of it, all right? She'll get all the info tonight. >> I understand. As long as it's not against something with her and she's going to Arizona University of Arizona. As long as it's not against something >> The Alco-Test reads .14, almost twice the limit for drivers over 21. But, Elizabeth isn't over 21. She's 18. For her, the legal amount of alcohol behind the wheel is zero. She's released that night to a family friend [music] who has to sign a liability warning just to take her home. Six citations in total. And on September [music] 13th, 2023, Elizabeth Misuraca was found guilty of driving under the influence. The sentence, 12 hours at an Intoxicated Driver Resource Center and $690 in fines. The other five tickets were dismissed in a plea agreement. For a first offense, that's [music] the system working as designed to scare, a fine, a lesson. Except, the lesson didn't hold. Two and a half years later, January 30th, 2026, Elizabeth was arrested again [music] for her second DUI in Rutherford, New Jersey. This time, according to records, after crashing her car leaving a concert. That case is still an allegation until the court rules, but the pattern [music] is now impossible to ignore. So here's the question this one leaves behind. At 18, she got the version of this night that's survivable, a fine, a class, a warning shot across the bow. Three years later, there's a crashed [music] car after a concert. So is a first DUI a wake-up call or [music] just a rehearsal? And what would actually have stopped the second one? A harsher sentence, a suspended license, or something no court can order? Tell me in the [music] comments. If you want real cases followed all the way through the stop, the court date, and what happened after, subscribe and hit the bell. New case every week.