Tampa Bay Criminal Defense Lawyer - another DUI

By Nicholas Dorsten, Esq.

Another day, another St. Petersburg DUI to report. While these types of stories aren't new (See here and here for instance, when is enough enough? Courtesy of Tampa Bay online

ST. PETERSBURG, FL - A 22-year-old woman was driving drunk when she set in motion a three-car automobile crash that left an 81-year-old motorist with a broken neck and back, authorities said.

The drunk driver also had her 2-year-old daughter with her in the 2003 Mercury Marquis.

The defendant was charged with drunken driving-serious bodily injury, child abuse, driving with a suspended or revoked license in a wreck causing injury, and refusing to submit to a breath test. She was being held today at the Pinellas County Jail on $15,150 bail.

It's the fourth time the St. Petersburg, Florida woman has faced DUI charges, authorities said.

In Thursday's wreck, she also was cited with careless driving and for not wearing a seatbelt, said St. Petersburg police spokesman Mike Puetz.

The defendant was driving west on 22nd Avenue about 3:20 p.m. when her car struck a curb before hitting a Nissan that was stopped at 42nd Street and then striking a Honda on 22nd Avenue, Puetz said.

The Honda's driver, Hyacinth Capehart of St. Petersburg, suffered a broken neck and back.

Two people in the Nissan were treated at Bayfront Medical Center and released, Puetz said.

Neither the defendant nor her daughter was injured. The child was released to her grandmother.

Authorities found a half bottle of Skol vodka and two empty Budweiser beer bottles in her car, Puetz said.

According to court records, the defendant was charged with drunken driving in June 2006. Puetz said the charge was reduced to reckless driving before she pleaded no contest and was found guilty.

Puetz said the defendant was found guilty of drunken driving in a November 2006 wreck and also in a January 2007 case.

The three cases were bundled together and in April 2008 she was ordered into an alcohol treatment center for 30 days. She was also sentenced to a work release program and her license was revoked for five years, according to state records


Have you or someone you loved been charged with a DUI? Do you need the help of a St. Petersburg Criminal Defense lawyer or Clearwater DUI attorney? Then Call Blake & Dorsten, P.A. today!

For more information, or to speak directly with experienced criminal defense attorneys, please contact the law firm of BLAKE & DORSTEN, P.A. at 727.286.6141 or email your questions to: info@blakedorstenlaw.com