Once upon a time, there was an exotic dancer gentlemen’s club entertainment specialist stripper who worked in Las Vegas. One night, the 26-year old woman took a Xanax pill (for which she did not have a prescription) and then went to work at the Spearmint Rhino about six hours later. During her 3 1/2 hour shift, she drank a couple of beers. Then the stripper got into her 2003 Hummer H2 and drove away.
Around 7:20am on Saturday morning (and less than a mile and a half from the club), the Hummer was traveling west on Spring Mountain Road. The stripper later said that she saw the traffic light at Wynn Road turn from green to yellow and tried to stop. But she wound up crashing into a Ford Escort that she said was turning right from Wynn in front of her. The auto accident killed a 33-year old man driving the Escort.
Metro Police later determined that the stripper did not brake at the intersection, and that the Escort had not made any turns but was traveling south on Wynn when the accident occurred.
Police could not determine with certainty which driver ran a red light. But the stripper was arrested on charges of driving under the influence, even though her blood alcohol content was below the legal limit. Why?
Because the stripper failed two out of three sobriety tests – and she admitted to drinking alcohol earlier as well as taking the Xanax. That evidence was enough to get her arrested on DUI charges. Because of the arrest, the likelihood that she will be held responsible for the crash and the death of the man is very high.
The moral of the story? If you’re in a wreck, and there is reasonable suspicion – but not proof – that you were impaired, you will very likely be arrested for DUI and/or saddled with liability in the auto accident.
The End