Drunk driver with no license mistakes police station for public parking lot
The 38-year-old from Pamplona is facing charges, including refusing to take a breath test
A 38-year-old man who was driving without a license and under the influence of alcohol found himself in hot water in the northern Spanish city of Pamplona, after mistakenly driving into a garage belonging to the municipal police force in the early hours of Sunday morning.
The officers on the scene initially thought that the vehicle was occupied by an undercover colleague, but soon realized that the car did not belong to the force.
The man excused himself by explaining that he thought the building was a public parking lot. The driver, who was in such a state that his passenger had to move the car, is now facing charges for drunk driving, driving without a license, and refusing to take a breathalyzer test.
On Wednesday he will have to appear in court.
Fort Lauderdale City Commission tightens drinking restrictions in wake of shootings. Business owners say that’s not the solution
By Bri Buckley
On Tuesday night, the Fort Lauderdale City Commission voted to get rid of open container and outdoor consumption of alcohol in its entertainment districts in the wake of recent shootings near the area.
The safety push comes after 17-year-old Joshua Gipson was shot and killed outside Beach Place on State Road A1A on New Year’s Eve. Days before that, five people were injured after a shooting around 2 a.m. in the Himmarshee District on Southwest 2nd Avenue.
The recent violent events have renewed concerns over safety.
“The people who are causing those problems are the people who are having the parking lot parties, bringing their own alcohol,” said Micah Harris.
Harris is the bar manager at Original Fat Cats on Himmarshee Street. He told CBS News Miami that their late-night crowd is typically regulars in the service industry.
“There’s bad apples in every bunch, but the bad apples aren’t the people that are coming to the bars; they’re the people that are having the parking lot parties and bringing their own alcohol, and they’re walking around downtown, and they’re not contributing financially to the district,” Harris said.
The city hopes the measures will make streets safer. Bar owners and managers say it’s a slow death
The city hopes this move will address that issue and create safer streets.
“Underage children were drinking, and it was very hard to police that,” said Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis. “There’s no enforcement mechanism to be able to enforce that, now we’re giving the police the authority to do that and we’re also telling the bars that they cannot sell from windows outside their bars, they can’t have kiosks selling liquor.”
While some businesses agree with the move, Julie Olszewski, who runs Con Murphy’s and McSorley’s on A1A, said that’s going to hurt their bottom line.
“Thirty percent of our drinks are to-go during spring break, during the six weeks of March and into April, especially Tortuga, we sell drinks for people to walk down to the festival, so we’re looking at a pretty big loss not being able to take containers to-go,” Olszewski said.
The city is also considering scaling back last call from 4 a.m. to 3 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays in all of the city’s entertainment districts.
Dicey Riley’s owner, Mike Brennan, told CBS News Miami that it would force him to close.
“The place on the corner, The Den, just closed a week ago, and the place across the road closed nearly a year ago, called Lucky’s more, will close if this happens,” Brennan said.
The mayor said they will do a study with businesses that are willing to pay for extra security to see if it helps.
Harris said if last call changes, it would be a slow death sentence for the district. The bar has links to a petition against it posted all around the bar.
“Research other options, I don’t think that is the answer,” Harris said.
The ordinances are expected to be discussed again at the next commission meeting on February 3, 2026.
Drinking Alcohol in Vehicle Plea Bargain in California DUI
Many police encounters with individuals have to do with them drinking alcohol in a vehicle. Often, people will park in a dark parking lot or on the street and sit and drink alcohol in their car with friends.
This is just an excuse for the police to approach the car, shine their flashlights in, get everybody out of the vehicle, search everybody, and search the car. This happens all the time, especially in parks.
You think you’re going to stop in a park and sit there, especially on a weekend night. You can expect there’s a good chance the police will come swooping into the garden to see if they can arrest somebody, especially for a DUI. That’s what they do.
Consuming alcohol in a vehicle is an infraction under California Vehicle Code 23221. This statute makes it illegal for drivers and passengers to have an open alcoholic beverage while in a car. It does not matter whether they are drunk or not.
Manufacturing Probable Cause To Search Vehicle
They try and manufacture probable cause to get into the vehicle and search it, so people will often be in a park after park hours.
That will give the police probable cause to come up, shine a flashlight on them, and begin trying to see if they can catch them drinking alcohol in the car, catch them with drugs in the car, and catch them with a weapon in the vehicle.
This is what these guys are looking for. So, when you park in a public park, incredibly late at night and especially after park hours, you’re just giving the police an open-ended invitation to come in and search you and your car and try to provide you with a citation or even arrest you.
So, it’s not a good idea to drink alcohol inside of a vehicle because not only can you get charged with possession of an open container, the driver can be charged with some driving-related offenses that can seriously impact their driver’s license, lead to heavy fines, and even result in a misdemeanor on their record.
And again, it’s just a prelude to the police being able to search them.
I’m always amazed that people are driving around with drugs in their car or with a weapon, and they either don’t have a front license plate on their vehicle or drive recklessly because they’re stopped at a park late at night drinking alcohol.
Can I Plea Bargain My DUI Down to Drinking in Vehicle?
It’s possible, but it will depend on the details of the case. A wet reckless is a more reasonable offer. Drinking in a vehicle makes it easy for the police to find them, search them, and locate the weapon. Now they’re in a whole world of hurt, especially in Los Angeles County, because after you get caught drinking in a vehicle and find a weapon, you now put yourself in the wrong position.
You’re going to get charged with a crime. Prosecutors are going to want a conviction. They’re going to want to mess with your ability to own, use, and possess weapons.
So, the short answer related to drinking alcohol in a vehicle is don’t do it. If you did get caught doing it, pick up the phone. Make the call. I’ve handled thousands of these cases over twenty-five years. You’re not alone in this.
We have to try to show that it’s different from the typical circumstance, whatever your case is. It’s an aberration. It’s never going to happen again, so we can try to avoid that criminal conviction and possibly use some defense related to an illegal stop/search of you and your vehicle to get you the best outcome in your criminal matter.
