It may be difficult to predict how a person will react to a physically traumatic event. Often, the symptoms that people display following a traffic accident, for example, can vary, but could involve memory loss. In fact, a man in Minnesota is now suspected of DWI after he notified police that he thought he may have been involved in an accident.
Police say that they initially became involved in the incident when a sheriff’s deputy spotted a car parked on the side of the road with its hazard lights flashing just after 10 p.m. on a day in mid-June. A woman reportedly told the deputy that her vehicle had been rear-ended by a motorcycle that had apparently left the scene. She reported experiencing neck pain and a headache as a result of the alleged collision.
The deputy then began looking for the motorcyclist. Though he claims he found the motorcycle, the driver was not in the area (though it was unclear how the officer determined that the motorcycle was the one involved in an accident). A short time later, a 34-year-old man contacted police to inform them that he thought he had slid in gravel; reports indicate that he told police that he did not remember being involved in a collision with a motor vehicle. Officers say he failed field sobriety tests and is facing charges of criminal vehicular operation and fourth-degree DWI pending the results of a urine test.
There are many issues surrounding the Minnesota incident that are unclear, including whether there is evidence to indicate that it was the man’s motorcycle that was involved in the collision. If there is such evidence, it is unclear if he may have suffered an injury that may have impacted his memory and performance on field sobriety tests. Because prosecutors pursuing a conviction on DWI and other criminal charges must provide sufficient evidence to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, these are issues that will likely need to be addressed.
